Product Code Database
Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,625 (2020). Comparateur de territoire: Aire d'attraction des villes 2020 de Calais (073), Commune de Calais (62193), INSEE Calais overlooks the Strait of Dover, the narrowest point in the English Channel, which is only wide here, and is the closest French town to England. The White Cliffs of Dover can easily be seen from Calais on a clear day. Calais is a major port for ferries between France and England, and since 1994, the Channel Tunnel has linked nearby Coquelles to Folkestone by rail.
Because of its position, Calais has been a major port and an important centre for transport and trading with England since the Middle Ages. Calais came under English control after Edward III of England captured the city in 1347, followed by a treaty in 1360 that formally assigned Calais to English rule. Calais grew into a thriving centre for wool production, and came to be called the "brightest jewel in the English crown" because of its importance as the gateway for the tin, lead, lace and wool trades (or "staples"). Calais remained under English control until its recapture by France in 1558.
During World War II, the town was virtually razed to the ground. In May 1940, it was a strategic bombing target of the invading German forces, who took it during the siege of Calais. The Germans built massive bunkers along the coast, in preparation for launching missiles at England.
The old part of the town, Calais-Nord, is on an artificial island surrounded by canals and harbours. The modern part of the town, St-Pierre, lies to the south and south-east. In the centre of the old town is the Place d'Armes, in which stands the Tour du Guet, or watch-tower, a structure built in the 13th century, which was used as a lighthouse until 1848 when a new lighthouse was built by the port. South east of the Place is the church of Notre-Dame, built during the English occupancy of Calais. Arguably, it is the only church built in the English perpendicular style in all of France. In this church, former French President Charles de Gaulle married Yvonne Vendroux. South of the Place and opposite the Parc St Pierre is the Hôtel-de-ville (the town hall), and the belfry from the early 20th century. Today, Calais is visited by more than 10 million annually. Aside from being a key transport hub, Calais is also a notable fishing port and a centre for fish marketing, and some 3,000 people are still employed in the lace industry for which the town is also famed.
The earliest English name for the city was the Anglo-Norman Caleis. In Middle English and Early Modern English, variants including Caleys, Calais, Calays, Callis and Cales were used. In later Middle English, the name of the city was most commonly spelt Cales, and this spelling survived well into the modern period, but Shakespeare for example used the spelling Callice. "Callice (n.)" at Shakespeare's Words glossary. Retrieved 30 July 2024. Confusingly, the name Cales found in the sarcastic rhyme beginning "A gentleman of Wales, a knight of Cales" and the ballad "The Winning of Cales" collected by Thomas Percy refers not to Calais, but to Cadiz in Spain. "The Winning of Cales." at the Ex-Classics project website. "The subject of this ballad is the taking of the city of Cadiz (called by our sailors corruptly Cales)..."
The Cales spelling was also used in other European languages at the time, including Spanish,Hipólito San Joseph Delpino. A new Spanish grammar; or, The elements of the Spanish language: ... A new edition etc. Revised and improved by Raymundo del Pueyo. F. Wingrave, 1814. p. 190. Italian Lexicon geographicum, in quo universi orbis oppida, urbes, regiones, provinciae, regna etc. 1657. p. 186. and GermanNathanaël Duez. Nova nomenclatura quatuor linguarum, Gallico, Germanico, Italico, & Latino idiomate conscripta. Latest edition, revised. 1652. p. 125. and it is reflected in the city's name in the local Picard language, Calés.
Other archaic names for the city are Portuguese Calêsio and German Kalen. Kales, the city's historic name in Dutch and West Flemish (once spoken in the area) was retained until more recently in the name for the Strait of Dover, Nauw van Kales, and is still used in Dutch sources wishing to emphasise former linguistic ties to the area.
Though the modern French spelling of Calais gradually supplanted other variants in English, the pronunciation () persisted and survives in other towns named for the European city including Calais, Maine, and Calais, Vermont, in the United States. In "" (1855), Robert Browning rhymes Calais with malice.
The pronunciation shift can be seen in the 19th century where the pronunciation with the s ending was prescribed through much of the century,Rev. John Robinson. An Easy Grammar of History; Ancient and Modern. 4th ed. Philadelphia, Bennett & Walton, 1819. p. 134. "Ca′-lais, (pronounced Cal-lis,)""Pedantic Pronunciation." The Christmas Bookseller 1871. London, 12 December 1871. p. 48. "Whilst ashamed to call Paris Parry and Calais Cally, the pedantic Englishman endeavours to pronounce St. Cloud and St. Denis in French fashion..." but was disappearing by the end.Alfred Ayres. The Orthoëpist: a Pronouncing Manual Containing about Four Thousand Five Hundred Words. New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1895. p. 44. "Pronounced, if Anglicized, kăl′is; but I have no recollection of ever having heard it so pronounced, except as the name of a town in Maine." In the beginning of the twentieth century, the English pronunciation with stress on the first syllable was firmly established.C. O. Sylvester Mawson. "The Pronunciation of War Names." Uncle Sam's Fact Book of the World War. New York: C. S. Hammond, 1918.
Calais was an English outpost for many centuries while it was an island surrounded by marshes, and difficult to attack from the mainland. At some time before the 10th century, it would have been a Dutch language-speaking fishing village on a sandy beach backed by pebbles and a creek,Delattre, Ch., Mériaux, E. and Waterlot, M. (1973) Région du nord : Flandre, Artois, Boulonnais, Picardie, Guides géologiques régionaux, Paris : Masson, , Fig. 18 with a natural harbour at the west edge of the early medieval estuary of the river Aa. As the pebble and sand ridge extended eastward from Calais, the haven behind it developed into fen, as the estuary progressively filled with silt and peat. Afterwards, canals were cut between Saint-Omer, the trading centre formerly at the head of the estuary, and three places to the west, centre and east on the newly formed coast: respectively Calais, Gravelines and Dunkirk.The pre-siltation counterpart of Dunkirk was Bergues. Calais was improved by the Count of Flanders in 997 and fortified by the Count of Boulogne in 1224.
The first document mentioning the existence of this community is the town charter granted by Mathieu d'Alsace, Count of Boulogne, in 1181 to Gerard de Guelders; Calais thus became part of the county of Boulogne. In 1189, Richard the Lionheart is documented to have landed at Calais on his journey to the Third Crusade.
The town came to be called the "brightest jewel in the English crown" owing to its great importance as a gateway port for the tin, lead, cloth and wool trades (or "staples"). Its customs revenues amounted at times to a third of the English government's revenue, with wool being the most important element by far. Of its population of about 12,000 people, as many as 5,400 were recorded as having been connected with the wool trade. The governorship or Captaincy of Calais was a lucrative and highly prized public office; the famous Dick Whittington was simultaneously Lord Mayor of the City of London and Mayor of the Staple in 1407.
Calais was an integral part of the English trading economy, though not regarded as being a part of the Kingdom of England until the days of King Henry VIII, from which time the Pale of Calais sent two members to the English Parliament. The continued English hold on Calais however depended on expensively maintained fortifications, as the town lacked any natural defences. Maintaining Calais was a costly business that was frequently tested by the forces of France and the Duchy of Burgundy, with the Franco-Burgundian border running nearby. The British historian Geoffrey Elton once remarked "Calais—expensive and useless—was better lost than kept".Rose (2008), p.172 The duration of the English hold over Calais was, to a large extent, the result of the feud between Burgundy and France: both sides coveted the town, but preferred to see England control it rather than their domestic rivals. The stalemate was broken by the victory of the French crown over Burgundy following Joan of Arc's final battle in the siege of Compiègne in 1430, and the later incorporation of the duchy into France.
In September 1552, the English adventurer Thomas Stukley, who had been for some time in the French service, betrayed to the authorities in London some French plans for the capture of Calais, to be followed by a descent upon England. Stukley himself might have been the author of these plans.
On 7 January 1558, King Henry II of France sent forces led by Francis, Duke of Guise, who laid siege to Calais. When the French attacked, they were able to surprise the English at the critical strongpoint of Fort Nieulay and the sluice gates, which could have flooded the attackers, remained unopened. The loss was regarded by Queen Mary I of England as a dreadful misfortune. When she heard the news, she reportedly said, "When I am dead and opened, you shall find 'Philip' her and 'Calais' lying in my heart."Holinshed, Raphael (1808) 1586 Holinshed's chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland, Vol. 4 (England), Ellis, Sir H. (ed.), London : J. Johnson et al., 952 p. The region around Calais, then-known as the Calaisis, was renamed the Pays Reconquis ("Reconquered Country") in commemoration of its recovery by the French. Use of the term is reminiscent of the Spanish Reconquista, with which the French were certainly familiar—and, since it occurred in the context of a war with Spain (Philip II of Spain was at the time Queen Mary's consort), might have been intended as a deliberate snub.
The town was captured by the Spanish on 24 April 1596 in an invasion mounted from the nearby Spanish Netherlands by Archduke Albert of Austria, but it was returned to France under the Treaty of Vervins in May 1598.
The French revolution at the end of the 18th century did not disturb Calais and no executions took place.
In 1805, Calais hosted part of Napoleon's army and invasion fleet for several months before his aborted invasion of Britain. From October to December 1818, the British army used Calais as their departing port to return home after occupying post-Waterloo France. General Murray appointed Sir Manley Power to oversee the evacuation of British troops from France. Cordial relations had been restored by that time and on 3 December, the mayor of Calais wrote a letter to Power to express thanks for his "considerate treatment of the French and of the town of Calais during the embarkation."Herefordshire Record Office, Reference E60/IV/14, The Old Barracks, Harold Street, Hereford, HR1 2QX
The population in 1847 was 12,580, many of whom were English. The National Cyclopaedia of Useful Knowledge, Vol.IV, (1848), London, Charles Knight, p.19 It was one of the main ports for British travellers to Europe.
In World War I the British Expeditionary Force or BEF arrived in Calais on its way to the nearby frontline cutting through Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Flanders. Calais was a key port for the supply of arms and reinforcements to the Western Front. In the 1930s, the town was known for being a politically socialist stronghold.
During the ensuing German occupation, it became the command post for German forces in the Pas-de-Calais/Flanders region and was very heavily fortified, as the Germans generally believed that the Allies would invade there. It was also used as a launch site for V1 flying bombs and for much of the war, the Germans used the region as the site for to bombard the south-eastern corner of England. In 1943 they built massive bunkers along the coast in preparation for launching missiles on the southeast of England. Despite heavy preparations for defence against an amphibious assault, the Allied invasion took place well to the west in Normandy on D-Day. Calais was very heavily bombed and shelled in a successful effort to disrupt German communications and persuade them that the Allies would target the Pas-de-Calais for invasion (rather than Normandy). The town, by then largely in ruins, was laid siege to and liberated by Daniel Spry's 3rd Canadian Infantry Division between 25 September and 1 October 1944. On 27 February 1945 Calais experienced its last bombing raid—this time by Royal Air Force bombers who mistook the town for Dunkirk, which was at that time still occupied by German forces. After the war there was little rebuilding of the historic city and most buildings were modern ones.
The Calais migrant crisis led to escalating tension between the UK and France in the summer of 2015. The UK blamed France for not doing enough to stop migrants from entering the Channel Tunnel or attempting to scale fences built along the border. The British Prime Minister David Cameron released a statement saying that illegal immigrants would be removed from the UK even if they reached the island. To discourage migrants and refugees from jumping on train shuttles at Calais, the UK government supplied fencing to be installed around the Eurotunnel complex, where the vehicles are loaded onto train shuttles in Calais.
On 26 October 2016, French authorities announced that the camp had been cleared. By January 2017, 500–1,000 migrants, mostly unaccompanied minors, had returned and were Homelessness in Calais and there has been a presence ever since.
Calais is part of the Côte d'Opale (Opal Coast), a cliff-lined section of northern French coast that parallels the white cliffs on the British coast and is part of the same geological formation. It is known for its scenic such as Cape Blanc Nez and Cape Gris Nez and for its wide area of dunes. Many artists have been inspired by its landscapes, among them the composer Henri Dutilleux, the writers Victor Hugo and Charles Dickens, and the painters J. M. W. Turner, Carolus-Duran, Maurice Boitel and Eugène Boudin. It was the painter who coined the name for this area in 1911 to describe the distinctive quality of its light. Le Touquet-Paris-Plage à l’aube de son nouveau siècle, éditions Flandres-Artois-Côte d’Opale, 1982, p.22
Calais has a temperate oceanic climate ( Cfb in the Köppen climate classification). Temperature ranges are moderate and the winters are cool with unstable weather. It rains on average about per year.
The commune of Calais is divided into 13 quartiers:
From medieval times, English companies thrived in Calais. Calais was a particularly important centre in the production and trade of wool and cloth, which outweighed the costs of maintaining the town as part of England. In 1830 some 113 manufacturers were based in Calais and the St Pierre suburbs, the majority of which were English. There are still two major lace factories in Calais with around 700 looms and 3000 employees.Ruler (2011), p.69 The town exports in the early 20th century were lace, chemicals, paper, wines, especially champagne, spirits, hay, straw, wool, potatoes, woven goods, fruit, glass-ware, lace and metal-ware.Encyclopædia Britannica 11th ed. 1911 Principal imports in the early 20th century included cotton and silk goods, coal, iron and steel, petroleum, timber, raw wool, cotton yarn and cork. During the five years 1901–1905 the average annual value of exports was £8,388,000 (£6,363,000 in the years 1896–1900), of imports £4,145,000 (£3,759,000 in 1896–1900).
As a fishing port, Calais has several notable fishing markets including Les Délices de la Mer and Huîtrière Calaisenne on the Boulevard La Fayette, the latter of which is noted for its , lobster and from Brittany. The Emile Fournier et Fils market on the Rue Mouron sells mainly smoked fish including salmon, trout, herring and halibut.Ruler (2011), p.66
For elections to the Pas-de-Calais departmental council, the commune of Calais is divided between the cantons of Calais-1, Calais-2, and Calais-3, the first two of which also contain adjoining communes.
The mayor of Calais has been Natacha Bouchart since 2008, first for the Union for a Popular Movement and then its successor The Republicans. From 1971 to 2008, the mayor was a member of the French Communist Party (PCF): Jean-Jacques Barthe (1971–2000) and Jacky Hénin (2000–2008).
The square, massive Norman tower has three-arched belfry windows on each face, surmounted by corner turrets, and a conically shaped tower of octagonal proportions, topped again by a short steeple. The tower was a main viewing point for the Anglo-French Survey (1784–1790) which linked the Paris Observatory with the Royal Greenwich Observatory using trigonometry. Cross-channel sightings were made of signal lights at Dover Castle and Fairlight, East Sussex.
The church was assigned as a historic monument by decree of 10 September 1913, only to have its stained glass smashed during a Zeppelin bombardment on 15 January 1915, falling through the roof. General de Gaulle married Yvonne Vendroux on 6 April 1921 at the cathedral. The building sustained extensive damage during World War II, and was partially rebuilt, although much of the old altar and furnishings were not replaced.
The Calais Lighthouse (Le phare de Calais) was built in 1848, replacing the old watch tower as the lighthouse of the port. The tower was electrified in 1883 and automated in 1992. The staircase has 271 steps leading up to the lantern. By day it is easily distinguishable from other coastal lighthouses by its white color and black lantern. The lighthouse was classified as a historical monument on 22 November 2010.
Fort Risban, located on the coast on the Avenue Raymond Poincaré at the port entrance, was built by the English to prevent supplies reaching Calais by sea during the siege in November 1346 and continued to be occupied by them until 1558 when Calais was restored to France. In 1596, the fort was captured by the Spanish Netherlands until May 1598 when it was returned to the French following the Treaty of Vervins. It was rebuilt in 1640. Vauban, who visited the fort some time in the 1680s, described it as "a home for owls, and place to hold the Sabbath" rather than a fortification. During World War II it served as an air raid shelter. It contains the Lancaster Tower, a name often given to the fort itself.
Fort Nieulay, located along the Avenue Roger Salengro originally dated to the 12th or 13th century. During the English invasion in 1346, sluices gates were added as water defences and a fort was built up around it in 1525 on the principle that the people of the fort could defend the town by flooding it. In April and May 1677, Louis XIV and Vauban visited Calais and ordered a complete rebuilding of Fort Nieulay. It was completed in 1679, with the purpose to protect the bridge of Nieulay crossing the Hames River. By 1815 the fort had fallen into a ruined state and it wasn't until 1903 that it was sold and improved by its farmer tenants. The fort was briefly the site of a low-key scuffle with Germans in May 1940.
Theatres and cultural centres include Le théâtre municipal, Le Centre Culturel Gérard Philipe, Le Conservatoire à rayonnement départemental (CRD), L'auditorium Didier Lockwood, L'École d'Art de Calais, Le Channel, Le Cinéma Alhambra and La Médiathèque municipale. Le théâtre municipal or Calais Theatre is located on the Boulevard Lafayette and was built in 1903 on a plot of land which was used as a cemetery between 1811 and 1871. The theatre opened in 1905. On the first floor of the façade are statues which represent the performing arts subjects of Poetry, Comedy, Dance and Music.
The Monument des Sauveteurs ("Rescuers' Monument") was installed in 1899 on Boulevard des Alliés, and transferred to the Quartier of Courgain in 1960. It is a bronze sculpture, attributed to Edward Lormier. The Monument Le Pluviôse is a bronze monument built in 1912 by Émile Oscar Guillaume on the centre of the roundabout near the beach of Calais, commemorating the accidental sinking of the submarine Pluviôse in May 1910, off the beach by the steamer Pas de Calais. Armand Fallières, president of the Republic, and his government came to Calais for a state funeral for its 27 victims. One of these victims, Delpierre Auguste, (1889–1910), drowned at age 21 before the beach at Calais; a dock in the city is named for him. The monument was dedicated on 22 June 1913.
Monument "Jacquard" was erected on the square in 1910, opposite the entrance to the Calais theatre. It commemorates Joseph Marie Jacquard, popular in Calais because of his contribution to the development of lace through his invention of the Jacquard loom. A tall column in the Courgain area of the city commemorates a visit by Louis XVIII.
Parc Richelieu, a garden behind the war memorial, was built in 1862 on the old city ramparts and redesigned in 1956. It contains a statue designed by Yves de Coëtlogon in 1962, remembering both world wars with an allegorical figure, representing Peace, which clutches an olive branch to her breast. Another monument in the Parc Richelieu, erected on 23 April 1994, marks the approximate site of Emma, Lady Hamilton's last resting place. She died in Calais on 15 January 1815.Brayne, Martin (2016), Gone to the Continent: the British in Calais, 1760–1860
Hôtel Meurice de Calais is a hotel, established in 1771 as Le Chariot Royal by the French postmaster, Charles-Augustin Meurice, who would later establish the five-star Hôtel Meurice, one of Paris' most famous luxury hotels. It was one of the earliest hotels on the continent of Europe to specifically cater for the British elite. The hotel was rebuilt in 1954–55. It has 41 en-suite rooms.
The rugby club in Calais is Amicale Rugby Calaisien. Basketball is popular in Calais with the teams Calais Basket (male) and COB Calais (female) as is volleyball with the Lis Calais (male) and Stella Calais (female) teams. There is also the SOC club which caters in a range of sports including athletics, handball and football and Yacht Club de Calais, a yachting club. Calais also has Les Seagulls, an American football team.
Calais was also served by Saint-Pierre and Calais-Maritime. Both now closed.
Saint-Pierre was two separate stations. A temporary station was opened by the Chemins de fer du Nord in 1846, and closed in 1849 when Calais-Ville opened. It subsequently became the site of a marshalling yard. The second Saint-Pierre station was opened by the Chemin de fer d'Anvin à Calais (CF AC) on 1 October 1881. It closed in 1900 when the CF AC extended their line to Calais-Ville. The CF AC closed on 1 March 1955.
|
|
