Editing Amiens (section)

====Cirque Jules-Verne====
[[File:Cirque Amiens foule début XXe.jpg|thumb|left|The municipal circus of Amiens in 1912, on the festival of Saint Jean.]]
[[File:Cirque municipale amiens.jpg|thumb|The municipal circus of Amiens in 2006.]]
In 1845, the traditional fair of Saint-Jean, formerly held at ''Place René Goblet'', was transferred to ''Place Longueville''. It is a wide esplanade that took the place of the Longueville bastion, after the demolition of the city walls in the early 19th century. Each year, a temporary circus is established for this occasion.

In 1865, a circus company emerged to claim a permanent circus, which would be built in wood by the Schytte contractor in 1874. However, expensive maintenance prompted the municipality to consider the construction of a new building. The decision was made in 1886 under the leadership of Mayor [[Frédéric Petit (19th-century politician)|Frédéric Petit]] and the work began.

The Chief Architect of the Somme, {{interlanguage link|Émile Ricquier|fr}}, a disciple of [[Gustave Eiffel]], was responsible for its construction. It was inspired by the [[Cirque d'hiver]] of Paris but with a cast metal frame, supplemented by brick from the local countryside. The architect of civil buildings, [[Charles Garnier (architect)|Charles Garnier]], claimed that the frames should be hidden with a plaster imitating stone. The "moderninst" design of Ricquier, who chose to display the structure, and to favor local material such as brick, is visible at the rear of the monument.

With its 16-sided polygonal shape and a diameter of {{convert|44|m|ft}}, it includes lodges and [[Choir (architecture)#Seating|stalls]] in its enclosure. As a completely modern project, it hosted two steam engines, dedicated to fully electric lights and central heating. Since its construction, it was also the first circus which included a buffet and a refreshment bar. The cost of the construction of the building finally reached double the forecast.<ref>{{Base Mérimée|IA80000169}}</ref> In 1888, the new city councilor responsible for festivals and celebrations, Jules Verne, was responsible for monitoring the work, and it was he who opened it on Sunday 23 June 1889, for the opening of the fair and the centenary of the French Revolution:<ref>Jules Verne, extrait du {{cite web|url=http://www.phys.uu.nl/~gdevries/etexts/cirque/cirque.html|title=discours d'inauguration|date=17 July 2023 }} du 23 juin 1889.</ref>

{{pull quote|The new circus is a work of art that your municipal administration wanted to build with all of the enhancements of modern industry. It is the very best, undoubtedly, it is also the most comprehensive, with its facilities and equipment, to have been built in France and abroad.|author =[[Jules Verne]]}}

The roof was damaged by a shell in 1916. The circus was the setting for [[Federico Fellini]]'s ''[[The Clowns (film)|The Clowns]]'' (1971), and the film by [[Jean-Jacques Beineix]], ''[[Roselyne and the Lions]]'' (1989), with [[Isabelle Pasco]] as lead actress. The largest of the circuses of the province with its 3,000-seats, the building has acquired a multidisciplinary use for decades of performances of theatre, dance, concerts, galas, sports and public meetings.

Renovated in 2003, it now bears the name of {{interlanguage link|Cirque Jules-Verne|fr}}. After hosting the performances of {{interlanguage link|Cirque Rancy|fr}}, it hosts resident {{interlanguage link|Cirque Arlette Gruss|fr}}.

Since 1 January 2011, the circus has been labelled "national hub circus and street arts", managed by an {{interlanguage link|Établissement public de coopération culturelle|fr|3=Établissement public de coopération culturelle|lt=EPCC}}. It is one of seven in France and is still in use today.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cirquejulesverne.com/ |title=The Cirque Jules Verne Website |publisher=Cirquejulesverne.com |access-date=1 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012043438/http://www.cirquejulesverne.com/ |archive-date=12 October 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>