Doullens

Doullens is situated on the N25 road, in the northern part of the department, straddling the river Authie, the border with the Pas-de-Calais. Doullens is practically mid-way on the intersection of these axes :

• Abbeville - Arras
• Amiens - Saint-Pol-sur-Ternoise
• Crécy-en-Ponthieu - Bapaume
• Auxi-le-Château - Acheux-en-Amiénois

• Doullens, the ancient Dulincum, was seat of a viscountship under the counts of Vermandois then of Ponthieu{{sfn|Hare|1896|p=76}} and an important stronghold in the Middle Ages.{{EB1911|inline=1|wstitle=Doullens|volume=8|page=449}}
• In 1225, the town became part of France.
• In 1475 it was burnt by Louis XI for openly siding with the Duke of Burgundy. It received its name Doullens-le-Hardi from its gallant defense in 1523 against the Anglo-Burgundian army.
• In 1595 it was besieged and occupied by the Spaniards, who massacred the entire population. It was restored to France by the Peace of Vervins (1598).
• On 26 March 1918, orders giving General Foch overall command of the allied forces on the western front were signed at the Doullens Conference in the Hôtel de Ville (town hall). The orders were subsequently published in The Times of London.{{cite news|url=https://login.thetimes.com/?gotoUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.thetimes.com%2Farchive%2Farticle%2F1928-05-22%2F16%2F9.html |title= The Doullens Agreement|newspaper=The Times|date=22 May 1928|page=10}}

Sites and monuments include:

• the ruins of Saint-Pierre, partly of the 13th century, used as a barn in the nineteenth century.{{sfn|Hare|1896|p=76}}
• Notre-Dame church.
• An early 17th century brick belfry. In 2005, the belfry was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France site, because of its architecture and historical testimony to the rise of municipal power in the area.{{cite web |url = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/943 |title= Belfries of Belgium and France |website = UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher = United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization |access-date = 5 November 2021}}
• the citadel, possibly built by Vauban or Jean Errard, which has often served as a state prison, and later, a reformatory for girls.

Infinita decus lilia mihi prestant

{{Historical populations

|align = none

|cols = 1

|percentages = pagr

|source = EHESS{{Cassini-Ehess|12139|Doullens }} and INSEE (1968-2017)[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-80253#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE

|1936 |5770

|1946 |5404

|1954 |6169

|1962 |6321

|1968 |7119

|1975 |7495

|1982 |7054

|1990 |6615

|1999 |6279

|2007 |6339

|2012 |6643

|2017 |6106

}}

• The artist Édouard Traviès was born in Doullens in 1809.Bellier de La Chavignerie, Émile and Auvray, Louis (1885). [http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k113384f/f589 Dictionnaire général des artistes de l'École française depuis l'origine des arts du dessin jusqu'à nos jours], Vol. 2, p. 588. Librairie Renouard {{in lang|fr}}
• Louis Auguste, Duke of Maine was imprisoned in the Doullens citadel from 1718 until 1720 for his part in the Cellamare conspiracy.D'Harmonville, A. (ed.) (1845). [https://books.google.com/books?id=RYlUlvAUfWUC&pg=PA255 Dictionnaire des dates, des faits, des lieux et des hommes historiques], Vol. 2, p. 255. Alphonse Levavasseur et Cie {{in lang|fr}}
• The nobleman Emmanuel Marie Michel Philippe Fréteau de Saint-Just was imprisoned in the citadel in 1788.Assemblée nationale de France. [http://www2.assemblee-nationale.fr/sycomore/fiche/(num_dept)/12633 "Emmanuel, Marie, Michel, Philippe Fréteau de Saint-Just"] Retrieved 15 May 2017 {{in lang|fr}}

Image:Doullens église-St-Pierre 1.jpg|Church of St-Pierre

Image:Doullens église-Notre-Dame 1.jpg|Notre-Dame church

Image:Doullens beffroi-1.jpg|Belfry and Tourist office

Image:Doullens citadelle (intérieur) 2.jpg|Interior of the Citadelle

Image:Doullens panorama-1.jpg|Notre-Dame church seen from the Citadelle

Image:DOULLENS - Rue du Bourg.JPG|Doullens belfry, in the 19th century

Image:Doullens citadelle parcours sportif.jpg|Information placard of the Citadelle

Image:Doullens (27 juin 2009) carnaval 085.jpg|Summer Carnival in Doullens (2009)

• Communes of the Somme department

{{reflist}}

• {{cite book|author-link=Augustus Hare|first=August|last=Hare|title=North-eastern France|year=1896|publisher=Macmillan}}

{{Commons category|Doullens}}

• [http://www.mairie-doullens.fr/ Official commune site] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110209010815/http://www.mairie-doullens.fr/ |date=2011-02-09 }} {{in lang|fr}}
• [http://doullenstourisme.free.fr/ Site of the tourist office] {{in lang|fr}}
• [http://www.doullens.org/Doullens/ Photos] {{in lang|fr}}

{{Somme communes}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Communes of Somme (department)

Category:Picardy