AMIENS, a'inyN' (From the Lat. Am biani, the name of a Belgic tribe; literally "dwellers on the water;" compare Gadhel. abha-in, abhuinnc, water, a river). The capital of ancient Picardy and of the present French department of Somme, situated on the River Somme, Si miles by rail from Paris (Map: France, J 2). The residential section is well built with wide, well-paved streets and fine squares. The business part of the town is crossed by several canals, and is rather unat tractive. The old town is surrounded with boulevards, which occupy the site of the ancient fortifications, and there is in the western part of the town an extensive pleasure ground, the Promenade de la Flotoie, used for public concerts and festivals. The world-famous cathedral is situated in the eastern part of the city, facing the Place Notre Dame. Besides being the largest ecclesiastical edifice of France, the cathedral of Amiens is also one of the finest specimens of Gothic architecture in Europe. Its construction was begun in 1220 by the architect Robert de Luzarehes, and was continued by Thomas he Cormont and his son Renault. It was finished in 1288, but many additions have been made since; the two side towers of the western facade, how ever. are still unfinished. The length of the ca thedral is 470 feet, that of the transept 213 feet, and the width of the nave 144 feet. The main facade has three lofty porches profusely decora ted with statuary and other sculptural orna ments. The central spire over the transept is very slender, and 300 feet in height. The inte rio• is also very imposing. The nave is 147 feet high, and the vaulting is supported by 126 col umns. There are numerous chapels, and the transepts are covered with fine reliefs. At the sides of the nave are placed bronze statues of the two founders of Hie cathedral, and there are also large marble statues at the entrance to the choir.
Bu ides the cathedral the most noteworthy build ings are the town hall and the ChAteau d'Eau, where the water works of the city are situated. Of educational establishments Amiens has a ly eP11111, a medical school, a theological seminary, a municipal library, with about 100,000 volumes and nearly GOO manuscripts, and the museum of Picardy, containing collections of antiquities, sculptures, and paintings. Amiens was of con siderable industrial importance as early as the twelfth and in the sixteenth century it became one of the largest centres of the textile industry in France. At present the chief manu factures of Amiens are linen, woolens, silk, plush. and shoes. Amiens is the seat of a bishop and of a court of appeals. Pop., 1901. 90,758.
Amiens was anciently known as Samarobriva, and was the capital of the Gallic Ambiani. Caesar included it in Gallia Belgica, and it became a Roman stronghold; Marcus Aurelius adorned it. In the fifth century it fell into the hands of the Franks. In 1185 Philip Augustus, in consolidat ing the kingdom, induced Philip of Alsace to cede it to the crown. The famous Treaty of Amiens between Great Britain on one side and France, Spain, and the Batavian Republic on the other, in which Great Britain recognized the changes made by France in the map of Europe, and gave up most of her recent conquests, was signed in the HMO de Ville on March 27, 1802. Among notable men born in this city was l'eter the Hermit.
AMINA, :1-me'na. In Bellini's opera, La Sonnambula, the heroine, an orphan, who walked in sleep.