When you consider its height of 145 metres, it’s hard to imagine that the Notre-Dame d'Amiens cathedral was built on a field of artichokes. But according to legend, that’s exactly what happened. Renowned for its many canals, the ‘little Venice of the North’ is also known for its floating market gardens, or hortillonnages. Still accessible today by boat, these floating gardens were once cultivated by a very structured community known as the hortillons. It’s said that in 1220, these market gardeners donated one of their plots for the construction of a religious building. At the time, they probably never imagined that their vegetable plots would help form the foundations of the most imposing cathedral in France. Today, it’s hard to believe that seven centuries ago, the land was covered in artichoke thistles and not this imposing example of Gothic architecture.
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