The Faubourg of Saint-Médard is as old as the town itself. In fact, it existed in the Roman era, and later became one of the favorite residences of the Merovingian Kings, who owned a large “villa” there. [Illustration: DESTROYED BRIDGE OVER THE AISNE. _This bridge connected Pasly with Soissons._] [Illustration: IN THE ST-PAUL SALIENT.] About 556, Clotaire I had the greatly revered Bishop of Noyon, Saint-Médard, buried in this villa, and erected over his grave a basilica, round which a monastery was built. After playing an important part in the history of the early Middle-Ages, this monastery attracted 300 000 pilgrims as late as 1530. The buildings were devastated during the many sieges to which Soissons was subjected. Rebuilt in the 17th, they were converted in the 19th century into a school for deaf-mutes and the blind. Of the ancient buildings, there remains only a =crypt=, one of the oldest in France and of great archæological interest. Built in the 9th century and measuring about 80 feet in length, 8 feet in width and 13 feet in height, this crypt (_photo below_) includes a central gallery with groined vault, off which open chapels. The vaulting rests on very thick walls, in which small niches have been hollowed out as seats for the pilgrims. [Illustration: THE CRYPT OF ST-MÉDARD. _One of the oldest crypts in France._] [Illustration: CHURCH OF ST-WAAST IN 1917.] _Return to the Place d’Alsace-Lorraine, take the Rue du Champ-Bouillant as far as the first street on the right_ (_Rue Messire-P.-Leroy_) _which leads to the_ =Church of Saint-Waast=. [Illustration: FAUBOURG ST-WAAST. _Defence-Works in the Rue des Graviers, near the Church_ (_see Itinerary_).] The church of Saint-Waast, built in the 19th century, consists of a large central pile with aisles on each side of the nave. A graceful belfry, ending in a spire, rises over the portal. The interior of the building is not vaulted, but has a timber-work roof. The arches are supported by square pillars and the walls ornamented with pictures. The bombardments did great damage. Everywhere the roof was broken in and a large part completely destroyed. In the walls are numerous gaps, while the façade is pitted by shell-splinters. The belfry, very badly damaged on the first story, had two of its sides in the upper story completely demolished. The spire fell down in 1918. The interior of the main building suffered less, but the timber-work roof was badly damaged. The Faubourg Saint-Waast led to the first lines of the north-east sector of Soissons, which passed north of the hamlet of Saint-Paul. Because of its situation, it had been put in a complete state of defence and was continually bombarded. The railway station, gas-works and most of the factories were destroyed. In places, it is nothing more than a heap of ruins with, here and there, vestiges of the old military works.