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Home > Travel France > France Destinations > Abbeville
Abbeville
France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose metropolitan territory is located in Western Europe and comprises various overseas islands and territories which are located in other regions. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. At 674,843 square kilometers, France is the world's 40th-largest country after Myanmar. France is a member of The European Union and Paris is the capital of this nation. The sole official language of France is French. Since prehistoric times, France has been a crossroads of trade, migrations, and invasions.
Abbeville is a city in the Picardie region, in the north of France. Abbeville is located on the Somme River, 12 meters from its modern mouth in the English Channel, and 28 meters northwest of Amiens. In the medieval period, it was the lowest crossing point on the Somme and it was nearby that Edward III's army crossed shortly before the Battle of Crecy in 1346. Abbeville was the chief town of the former province of Ponthieu. Today, it is one of the three sous-prefectures of the Somme department. It is twinned with the town of Burgess Hill in West Sussex.
Abbeville first appears in history during the ninth century. At that time belonging to the abbey of St Riquier, it was afterwards governed by the Counts of Ponthieu. Together with that county, it came into the possession of the Alencon and other French families, and afterwards into that of the House of Castile, from whom by marriage it fell in 1272 to King Edward I of England. French and English were its masters by turns till 1435 when, by the treaty of Arras, it was ceded to the Duke of Burgundy. Abbeville was fairly important in the 18th century, when the Van Robais Royal Manufacture brought great prosperity to the town.
In main sight, the city was very pictorial until the early days of World War II, when it was bombed mostly to rubble in one night by the Germans. The town overall is now mostly modern and rebuilt. Abbeville is said the place of best geographical environment and can trace its origins back to prehistoric times. It enjoys a very positive reputation with worldwide travelers.
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