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Origin and history

The prefecture hotel of the Somme, located on Rue de la République in Amiens, was built in the second half of the eighteenth century to house the hotel of the Generality of Amiens. In 1761 the intendant Étienne Maynon d'Invault launched his construction, while in 1773 his successor Bruno d'Agay decided to set up his offices in the king's printing house, renovated by the Parisian architect Louis de Montigny. The land was acquired from noble locals such as the Marquis de Runes or Vaquette de Fréchencourt. Under the Consulate, the building became the hotel of the Prefecture of the Somme.

In the 19th century, architect François-Auguste Cheussey rearranged the building in 1816 and built a pavilion in the courtyard of orangery in 1838. After the German bombings of 1918, the destroyed parts were reconstructed identically. The monument, partially protected since 1988 and 2013, illustrates neoclassical urban civil architecture, with interiors ( vestibule, salons, rotunda) preserved since the 18th century. Jean Herbault, an Amienese architect, made changes under the Second Empire, notably in the large dining room and the prefect's office.

The English-speaking park, which is an extension of the hotel, retains its original 18th-century layout, dominated by a Lebanese cedar planted in 1756 by Dom Robbe, the founder of the Jardin des Plantes d的Amiens. There are also plane trees, yews, and a buried cooler. The park, like facades and some interior decorations (lounges, gallery of apartment), is classified as historical monuments. The ensemble reflects the administrative and architectural heritage of Picardia, marked by the transformations of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.

Close by, the former Feuillants convent, a neighbour of the prefecture, now houses the Departmental Council of the Somme. Built in brick and stone from 1663, it was declared national at the Revolution and transformed in 1797 to house the departmental archives. The architect Jean Herbault added a meeting room between 1864 and 1866, decorated by Louis Duthoit, while a fresco by Jean-Jacques Staebler represented the department. These two buildings, linked by their administrative history, bear witness to the urban and political evolution of Amiens.

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