Saint-Quentin is a historic city with beautiful buildings from different eras from the Middle Ages to the Art Nouveau. Its decoration is a gothic basilica, which in the Middle Ages was one of the main pilgrimage centers in this part of France.
The city was founded in Roman times and was then called Augusta. In the 3rd century, the missionary of St. Kwintyn, and the first church was built on his grave. In the 12th century, the Basilica of St. Quintina was an important pilgrimage center in Picardy. The church was rebuilt many times and today it presents the Gothic style as one of the main monuments of the city.
The central square of Saint-Quentin is modeled on the buildings of the cities of nearby Flanders. There is a 16th-century town hall with a flamed gothic facade with figures depicting scenes from the history of the city. The buildings in the center are not uniform. There are buildings from different eras here. Houses with Art Nouveau and Neoclassical facades adjoin the sixteenth-century tenement houses.
Other attractions in Saint-Quentin include museums such as the Museum of Fine Arts with the Maurice-Quentin de la Tour Pastel Collection and the Butterfly Museum.
