Cité souterraine de Naours

Naours

Beneath the wooded plateau of Naours runs one of the largest 'muches' in Picardy — the Picard word for a hiding place: a network of galleries cut into the chalk, first worked as a quarry from the 12th century, then converted from the 16th century into a communal refuge for villagers, their food stores and their livestock. It contains squares, stables, chapels and a bakery whose ovens were in use: the smoke was, according to local tradition, vented through the chimneys of the village houses so as not to betray the refugees' presence. Archaeology confirms intense occupation in the early 17th century, during the Thirty Years' War, through inscriptions, coins, pottery and musket balls found on site. Under Louis XVI, salt smugglers set up a clandestine salt depot there to evade the gabelle. The network, backfilled and forgotten, was rediscovered and cleared by Abbé Ernest Danicourt, who devoted himself to it until 1912. Figures vary by source: 28 galleries and 130 to 300 rooms are cited, with an estimated capacity of between 2,000 and 3,000 people.

Cité souterraine de Naours — site officiel ↗

Getting there : 5 Rue des Carrières, 80260 Naours, 15 km north of Amiens. Guided tour compulsory, paid; parking on site. Constant temperature of 9.5°C: bring a jacket even in summer, and sturdy shoes — the ground is uneven and some passages are low.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound