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Origin and history

The Abbey of Saint-Pierre de Corbie, located in the city centre of Corbie (Somme, Hauts-de-France), is a Gothic religious building, former church of the Royal Abbey of Saint Peter founded in the 7th century by Queen Bathilde. The present abbey, rebuilt from 1501 under Abbé Pierre d'Ostrel, retains only one third of its original length (49 m instead of 117 m) after the revolutionary destructions and bombings of the First World War. Its two 55 m twin towers and its 25 m vaults still testify to its past grandeur.

The history of the abbey is marked by repeated fires: the early church, dedicated in 670 to Saints Peter and Paul, was destroyed in 1021-1022, then rebuilt before being ravaged again in 1137. A third reconstruction began in 1501, but only the choir and the transept were completed at the death of Peter of Ostrel in 1507. The works resumed in the seventeenth century in a flamboyant Gothic style, with a nave completed in 1698, equipped with sumptuous furniture (stalls of Charles Cressent, organs of Charles Dallery).

The French Revolution sealed the destiny of the abbey: suppressed by the Civil Constitution of the clergy (1790), the abbey became parish church before being closed in 1793 during the Terror. Abandoned, it underwent partial demolitions (central clover, transept) and was reduced to its nave in 1816. During the First World War (1918), German bombardments almost entirely destroyed the building, leaving only the outer walls and towers standing. Reconstructed in the inter-war period, it now preserves relics, baptismal fonts and furniture combining Gothic, classical and Art Deco styles.

Ranked a historic monument in 1919, the Abbey houses three historic bells ("Bathilde", "Odile", "Violette"), melted by the Bollée foundry and exhibited in Paris in 1925. Its current architecture, although truncated, reveals carved scabs on the bow-buttons and a nave with vaults culminating at 21 m. It remains an active place of worship, the heart of the parish of Sainte-Colette-des-Trois-Vallées, perpetuating an uninterrupted religious tradition since the 7th century.

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