Saint-Omer, home to magnificent abbey and much more

Abbey of Saint-Bertin

The gaunt ruins of the once great Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Bertin (Abbaye Saint-Bertin) stand at the lower end of Rue Saint-Bertain, near the banks of the River Aa, the course of which has shifted over the centuries. Founded in the 7th century by St Audomar – these days better known as St Omer, after whom the town is named – it was rebuilt several times and in the Middle Ages grew to be one of the most important abbeys in northern Europe. The abbey went into decline in the 15th century, and was closed in the Revolution, finally being demolished in 1830, with its stone being reused in new buildings, including the Town Hall.  Standing in front of the ruins of the Abbey of Saint-Bertin, is a statue of Suger (circa 1081–1151), the 12th Abbot of the Basilica of Saint-Denis in Paris. The monumental statue is the work of the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Stouf, and was one of a dozen statues of historical figures installed at Versailles in the 19th century. In 1931 these were dispersed to the respective birthplaces of their subjects (Suger is thought to have been born in Saint-Omer).

Theatre

Hidden away within the Town Hall, Saint-Omer’s small, Italianate theatre follows the style of theatres in 17^th-century Venice. Opened in 1840, it is lavishly decorated, with elaborate stucco, gilded balconies, a painted trompe l’oeil ceiling and pink marble columns. It was re-opened in 2018 after extensive renovation, having been closed to the public for the previous 45 years, and can be visited with a guide.

Motte and Bailey Castle

Beside the cathedral, hidden within a ring of houses, lies a motte and bailey castle. This was the town’s original keep, built in the 10th century but later destroyed and replaced with the present brick structure in the 18th century. During WW1 it was used as the British Army headquarters.

Sandelin Museum

Located in a beautiful 18^th-century townhouse near the top of Rue Carnot, the Sandelin Museum (Musée de l’hôtel Sandelin) contains over 3,000 artworks, which span a period from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. This is the place to see fragments of sculpture from the now ruined Abbey of Saint-Bertin, breathtaking religious art from the Medieval and Renaissance periods, and there’s an exceptionally fine ceramic collection, with some 750 pieces from Europe and Asia. The house has exquisite Rococo interiors and was built for Pierre and Marie-Josephe Sandelin, the Count and Countess of Fruges. It opened as a museum in 1904.

Jardin Public

Saint-Omer’s beautifully lush and peaceful public gardens (Jardin Public) lie hidden behind a wall, just across the road from the cathedral – you can enter through a small alley here, or through the main entrance just off Place Foch. Completed in 1898, it includes an orderly French garden with a fountain, an English garden with a small pond, and an arboretum.

La Maison du Marais

The Maison du Marais is the best place to learn more about the town’s watery surroundings – its history, legends, wildlife and plants – before you set off to explore them by boat, by bike or on foot. It takes about an hour to walk through the exhibition (newly refurbished in 2020), with audio commentaries and interactive displays. Boat tours run from outside the Maison, and you can hire bikes here as well.

Les Faiseurs de Bateaux

There are two types of traditional wooden boat associated with the Marais Audomarois, the bâcove and the smaller escute, which until the arrival of roads were the primary means of transport on the wetlands. These days there is only one workshop which still makes these traditional boats, Les Faiseurs de Bateaux, run by Rémy Colin. Visits to the workshop are possible, and Rémy also runs boat tours on the Marais Audomarois.

The Blockhaus at Eperlecques

The Blockhaus at Eperlecques lies hidden away in the forest, around 13km northwest of Saint-Omer. A vast concrete bunker linked by rail to Saint-Omer and Calais, it was built in 1943 as a combined assembly plant and launch site for Hitler’s lethal V2 rocket, until following Allied bombing this activity was moved to La Coupole. There are good, informative displays and audio-visual presentations, and the setting has been left deliberately raw – think cold, harsh concrete – making a visit a fascinating but sobering experience.

La Coupole

Located around 7km south of Saint-Omer, La Coupole is one of the most impressive WW2 sites anywhere in France. Intended as a base for launching V2 rockets, it was built between 1943 and 1944 as a successor to the Blockhaus at Eperlecques, but was abandoned following the D-Day landings. Despite relentless Allied bombing, its massive concrete shell remains intact, and today houses a state-of-the-art History and Memorial Centre, covering the development of the V2 rocket, the horrific suffering of the slave labourers used in the rockets’ construction, and the evolution of space travel (following the end of WW2, the designer of Hitler’s terrifying V2 rocket program was taken to work at NASA). A shuttle bus runs between Saint-Omer railway station and La Coupole.