College of Saint-Acheul

Abbey of Saint-Acheul

Abbaye de Saint-Acheul
Église Saint-Acheul
Location within France
Monastery information
Order	Canons Regular, Congregation of France from 1634
Established	1085
Disestablished	1790
Mother house	Abbey of St Genevieve
Diocese	Amiens
People
Founder(s)	Rorico, Bishop of Amiens
Architecture
Status	Closed
Heritage designation	Monument historique
Designated date	8 December 1969
Site
Location	Amiens, Somme, France
Coordinates	49°53′00″N 2°19′28″E / 49.88333°N 2.32442°E / 49.88333; 2.32442Coordinates: 49°53′00″N 2°19′28″E / 49.88333°N 2.32442°E / 49.88333; 2.32442

The Abbey of Saint-Acheul (French: Abbaye de Saint-Acheul) was a monastery of Canons Regular in the Saint-Acheul district of Amiens, France. It was founded in the 11th century on the site of an ancient church, and was suppressed in 1790 during the French Revolution. The buildings, which date to the 18th century, were taken over by a college that was entrusted to the Jesuits in 1814. They are now occupied by the private Lycée Saint-Riquier. The abbey church is used as a parish church.

The church is on the chaussée Jules-Ferry, Amiens, Somme. The location was once a site of Druid sacrifices, later the site of a Roman temple.

An ancient church named Notre Dame des Martyrs, known as the first cathedral of Amiens, was founded in memory of Saint Firmin the Martyr. Later it became part of the Abbey of Notre Dame de Saint-Acheul. Modern historians have debated when and by whom the church was founded, but Bishop Rorico of Amiens (c. 1081–85) was confident that it was the oldest Christian building in Amiens and had been built by Saint Firmin the Confessor over the tombs of Saint Firmin the Martyr, Saint Acius and Saint Aciolus. Saint Firmin the Martyr was an evangelist and first Bishop of Amiens, who was martyred there in 287.

The oldest surviving vitae of the first bishop-saints of Amiens mentions the church. The life of Firmin the Martyr relates that after he had been executed the senator Faustinian took the body and buried at in his personal cemetery in "Abladana". His son Firmin the Confessor built a church over the tomb, later to be known as Saint-Acheul, and was also buried there. Saint Salvius, Bishop of Amiens in the 7th century, found the tombs of the two Saint Firmins and the martyrs Acius and Aciolus. He moved the four bodies to the eastern crypt of the cathedral.

The crypt under the church contains ancient tombs and bas-reliefs. It was discovered on 10 January 1697 during construction of a foundation for the main altar in the church. The monks claimed they had found the body of Saint Firmin, and said the relics in the Amiens Cathedral were not authentic. After lengthy controversy the relics in the cathedral were opened on 10 January 1715 and the 13th century inscriptions were taken to prove their authenticity. The vault of the 11th century church collapsed in 1751 and all the buildings were completely rebuilt in 1760. During the revolution the church became the parish church for the districts of La Neuville and Boutillerie. Under the Terror it was changed into stables. It was again made a parish church in 1844.