Cambrai (, ; ; ), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord department and in the Hauts-de-France region of France on the Scheldt river, which is known locally as the Escaut river.
A sub-prefecture of the department, Cambrai is a town which had 32,501 inhabitants in 2018. It is in the heart of the urban unit of Cambrai with 46,772 inhabitants. Its functional area, a more extensive range, included 94,576 inhabitants in 2018. Comparateur de territoire: Aire d'attraction des villes 2020 de Cambrai (108), Unité urbaine 2020 de Cambrai (59403), Commune de Cambrai (59122), INSEE With Lille and the towns of the former Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin, it is also part of the which has more than 3.8 million inhabitants.
Towards the end of the Roman Empire, Cambrai replaced Bavay as the "capital" of the land of the Nervii. At the beginning of the Merovingian era, Cambrai became the seat of an immense archdiocese covering all the right bank of the Scheldt and the centre of a small ecclesiastical principality, roughly coinciding with the shire of Brabant, including the central part of the Low Countries. The bishopric had some limited secular power and depended on the Holy Roman Empire until annexation to France in 1678. Fénelon, nicknamed the "Swan of Cambrai", was the most renowned of the archbishops.
The fertile lands which surround it and the textile industry gave it prosperity in the Middle Ages, but in modern times it is less industrialised than its neighbours of Nord-Pas-de-Calais.
Cambrai was the Duke of Wellington's headquarters, for the British Army of Occupation, from 1815 to 1818. Occupied by the German army during World War I, Cambrai suffered partial destruction in the First Battle of Cambrai from British artillery attacks on the town, including the nearby Bourlon Wood. The fighting around Cambrai, known as the Battle of Cambrai (20 November 1917 – 3 December 1917) is notable in that it is considered to be the first mass use of in battle. A second Battle of Cambrai took place between 8 and 10 October 1918 as part of the Hundred Days Offensive. World War II was followed by reconstructions and a rapidly developing economy and population, abruptly reversed by the 1973 oil crisis.
Cambrai today is a lively city and, despite the past destruction, maintains a rich monumental heritage. Cambrai is affirmed as the urban centre of Cambrésis. Its economic life is strengthened by its position on the main local highway and river.
In the middle of the 4th-century, Franks raids from the north threatened Bavay and led the Romans to build forts along the Cologne to Bavay to Cambrai road, and thence to Boulogne. Cambrai thus occupied an important strategic position.
In 430, the Salian Franks under the command of Clodio the Long-Haired took the town. In 509, Clovis I undertook to unify the Frankish kingdomsp.12-14 by getting rid of his relatives.
When the Treaty of Verdun in 843 split Charlemagne's empire into three parts, the county of Cambrai fell into Lothair I's kingdom. However, upon the death of Lothair II, who had no heir, king Charles the Bald tried to gain control of his kingdom by having himself consecrated at Metz. Cambrai thus reverted, but only briefly, to the West Francia. In 870 the town was destroyed by the Normans.1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, "Cambrai"
In the Middle Ages the region around Cambrai, called Cambrésis, was a county. Rivalries between the count, who ruled the city and county, and the bishop, ceased when in 948 Otto I granted the bishop with temporal powers over the city.p.29-30 In 1007, Emperor Henry II extended the bishop's temporal power to the territory surrounding Cambrai. The bishops then had both spiritual and temporal powers. This made Cambrai and Cambrésis a church principality, much like Liège, an independent state which was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The spiritual power of the bishop was exercised over a vast diocese, which stretched on the right bank of the Scheldt to Mons, Brussels and Antwerp.Pierrard 1978, p.112 In 954, the Hungarians under Bulcsú besieged Cambrai, which resisted all their attacks.
In 958 one of the first communal uprisings in Europe occurred in Cambrai. The inhabitants rebelled against Bishop Bérenger's power and abuses. The rebellion was severely repressed, but the discontent flared up again in the 10th and 11th centuries. Between 1077 and 1215, the Bourgeoisie had a charter franchise on at least four occasions. Each time, these were eventually withdrawn by the combined efforts of the bishops and emperors. In 1227, following another period of unrest, the burghers of Cambrai finally had to give up their charters and accept the bishop's authority. However, the Loi Godefroid promulgated by the bishop, in fact or in law, left the people a number of freedoms won in the management of communal affairs.Pierrard, 1978, p.100
Cambrai is also known for its Irish Cambrai Homily.
In 1595, the city was taken by the Spanish in the eighth and last French Wars of Religion.
In December 1623, the community of nuns of the English Benedictine Congregation was founded at Cambrai. Expelled in 1793 as a result of the French Revolution, its successor community in 1838 was Stanbrook Abbey, near Malvern and later Wass in Yorkshire.
In 1630, Richelieu, wishing to counter the power of the Emperor and Spain, renewed the alliance of France with the Dutch Republic. The main effort of France had to focus on the Spanish Netherlands, and a sharing plan was established with the Dutch, with France to receive the Hainaut, Cambrésis, Artois, a large part of Flanders and Luxembourg and the County of Namur.Pierrard, 1978, pp.207–208 War was declared against Spain in 1635: It was followed by a long series of wars which, compounded by subsistence and epidemics, caused crises which would bruise the Cambrésis.pp.144–145
Cardinal Mazarin tried unsuccessfully, in 1649, to seize the city, which was being besieged by Henri de Lorraine-Harcourt and the Vicomte de Turenne. A Spanish regiment, which came from Bouchain, succeeded in entering the city and the siege was lifted. In 1657, the Vicomte de Turenne captured Cambrai. Again 4,000 horsemen under the command of Condé, in the service of the Spain, manage to penetrate, and Turenne abandoned the city.pp.145–146
In 1666, in the greatest secrecy, Louis XIV prepared new conquests by making plans of the Spanish fortifications, and then began the War of Devolution. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle from 1668 allowed the Kingdom of France to obtain a large number of strongholds, but Cambrai was not a part of them, nor were Bouchain, Valenciennes or Condé-sur-l'Escaut.
Most of the religious buildings of the city were demolished in that period: in 1797, the old cathedral, which had been dubbed the "wonder of the low countries", was sold to a merchant on 6 June 1796 who left only the tower,p.410 after exploiting the cathedral as a stone quarry. The main tower was left standing until 1809, when it collapsedp.424 in a storm. However the cathedral's archives have been preserved (they are now at the Archives Départementales du Nord in Lille) and a new cathedral was later provided.
In 1918, the Germans burned the city centre before leaving, destroying the city hall and the municipal archives. In total, more than 1,500 buildings were totally destroyed, of the 3,500 which consisted of Cambrai. The centre was to be rebuilt, a task which was entrusted to the architect .p.264p.266
World War II also struck Cambrai. The city was bombed by the Luftwaffe on 17 May 1940, during the Battle of France, before falling the next day at the same time as Saint-Quentin. The remains of the 9th French Army and Henri Giraud were taken prisoner by the Germans., Marcel Dégardin, Souvenir Français Arras
From 27 April until 18 August 1944, 18 Allied air raids were directed against the railway tracks, killing 250 people and destroying 1,700 buildings,p.275 or more than 50% of the city. The first American tanks entered the city on 2 September.
After the war, the priority again was reconstruction. A municipality of the "union of the left" was elected in 1945, led by who would remain at the head of the city until 1981, promoting moderate socialism.p.285 As early as 1947, the city submitted to a development project of the Ministry of Reconstruction. The municipality gave priority to the construction of houses: The Maison du Cambrésis House, later Maison Familiale group, an HLM cooperative society, contributed substantially to the reconstruction of the city.p.279 The population of the city increased, while the surrounding area tended to be depopulated. At the same time, the city lost industrial jobs and moved towards the tertiary sector, but it was public administrations which provided the bulk of jobs.p.280-284
Cambrai is not very far from several European capitals: Brussels is away, Paris is and London is .
The city was born and developed on the right bank of the Scheldt river, locally known as the Escaut. The river has its source in the department of Aisne, just a little over away.
The chalky subsoil allowed, as in many medieval cities, the digging of a network of cellars, tunnels and quarries under the city. The poor quality of the Cambrai chalk was reserved for use in the manufacture of lime or filling, as well as common constructions. For prestigious buildings, stone from the nearby villages of Noyelles-sur-Escaut, Rumilly or Marcoing was used.p.37
The city is bordered in its western part, as well as to the north and the south, by the alluvial zones of the Scheldt Valley.
In addition, the river initially served as the boundary between the bishoprics of Tournai on its left bank and Cambrai on its right bank, from the 6th century.p.46 When the division of Charlemagne's Empire in 843, this border was retained to delimit the kingdoms of Lothair I and Charles the Bald, making Cambrai a city of the Holy Roman Empire until 1677.
The Scheldt was also indispensable to many economic activities, such as the tanning, milling, the manufacture of salt and soap,p.62 as well as for retting of linen, the weaving of which was one of the main activities of the city.p.98
Finally, the river was used in the Middle Ages and then by Vauban, for the defence of the city by the establishment of flood defensive areas.
Despite its important role in the history of the city, the Scheldt is little integrated into the present urban landscape.
Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year round. The Köppen Climate Classification subtype for this climate is "" (Marine West Coast Climate/Oceanic climate). However, the city is about from the nearest coast.Dunkirk is , Berck is .
Precipitation is distributed year-round, with highs in the spring and autumn, with February being the driest month. Contrasting with the rainy image of the region, the total annual precipitation is relatively small with at Cambrai-Épinoy; identical to the Montsouris Paris station, which is at the same altitude, it is less than those of Toulouse at or Nice at . However, the number of days of rain (63 in Nice, 120 in Cambrai) confirms the oceanic character of the climate.
The mean thermal amplitude between the winter and summer does not exceed 15 °C. Although again establishing a comparison with Paris, that Cambrai is 1.5 to 2 °C colder over all combined seasons. On average, there are 71 days of fog per year (Paris-Montsouris has 13) 15 days of storm (Paris-Montsouris has 19) and 20 days with snow (Paris-Montsouris has 15).
If comparing the data of Cambrai and those of towns such as Dunkirk or Boulogne-sur-Mer, there are colder minimum temperatures and a warmer maximum in Cambrai, the difference being approximately 2 °C, as well as a larger number of freezing days and less heavy precipitation: It's described a "transitional" oceanic climate, with some continental influences.
The temperature record in Cambrai is , which was established on 6 August 2003 (data collected since 1954 and record updated to 5 September 2013).
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Cambrai and its region are served by four autoroute interchanges: The A2, exit 14 (Cambrai) from Paris and exit 15 (Bouchain) from Brussels, and on the A26 the exits 8 (Marquion) from Calais and 9 (Masnières) from Reims.
Cambrai is also at the crossroads of the Route nationale 30 of Bapaume to Quiévrain (Franco-Belgian border), Route nationale 43 of Sainte-Ruffine (Metz) to Calais, of Cambrai to Vitry (these last three have since 2006 been downgraded to and therefore consequently renamed to D6xx), and D939 (former ) of Cambrai to Arras.
To facilitate access to the east of the Cambrésis from the A2 and A26 autoroutes, to alleviate traffic in the crossing of the city and to serve the future Niergnies business zone, a southern bypass was the subject of a declaration of public utility (DPU) on 22 April 1999. Its route has been repeatedly modified and challenged, because it crosses the urban ecological park of the in Proville, the only public natural green space of the Cambrésis. The bypass is in service since 17 September 2010.
A bypass to the north is also part of the program of major departmental projects, which was required to have been initiated by 2011.
The link to Douai and Lille has improved after the electrification of the single-track in 1993, for the commissioning of joining Paris to Cambrai by TGV via Douai, which was subsequently cancelled. Direct connections on weekdays are fifteen trains per day, with a journey time of about 30 minutes between Douai and Cambrai; eight trains, with a journey time often less than an hour, to Lille-Flandres station; ten trains, with a time of little more than 40 minutes on average to Valenciennes and a dozen trains, with a journey time of around 50 minutes, to Saint-Quentin.
Links to Paris from Cambrai (Gare du Nord) are mediocre if compared to those of the neighbouring cities. Valenciennes, Douai and Arras are connected to Paris by TGV several times per day. Saint-Quentin is connected by TER or Intercités trains with less than two hours travel time. Cambrai was connected to Paris in 2010 by a single direct Intercités service of two hours, with a little-suited schedule for professional use. The times of other trains via Douai or Saint-Quentin vary between two and four and a half hours.
Other railway lines of local interest saw development in the 19th century, particularly in 1880 the Société des Chemin de fer du Cambrésis which operated three routes in the Cambrésis between Cambrai, Caudry, Saint-Quentin, Le Cateau and Denain. An agricultural use of Cambrai to Marquion, now off line, was also open in 1898.
Cambrai railway station was also the terminus of a standard gauge secondary route of linking Marquion and Boisleux-au-Mont.
Moreover, a river link between Paris and the Nord department had been projected as early as the time of Cardinal Mazarin and Colbert. The construction of the Saint-Quentin canal, between Chauny on the Oise and Cambrai, was taken up in 1802 on the order of Napoleon and completed in 1810, after the drilling of the Riqueval Tunnel. The canal and tunnel were opened with great pomp on 28 April 1810 by the Emperor and Empress Marie-Louise. The Saint-Quentin canal has experienced heavy traffic, but since 1966, the date of the opening of the Canal du Nord, it has lost much of its importance.
Within an approximate radius of 1 hr 30 mins by road are five major airports: Lille Airport at , Brussels South Charleroi at , Brussels Airport at , Paris Beauvais-Tillé at and Paris Charles-de-Gaulle at .
Since 1933 the agglomeration of Cambrai has been served by a , five urban routes were operating in 2010, run by CFC (Railways of Cambrésis):
Since 7 January 2013, the agglomeration community of Cambrai has implemented a free shuttle which serves seventeen stops around the city.
In 2008, the "Urban Transport Perimeter" (PTU) of Cambrai which, with 59,326 inhabitants, is the smallest of the twelve PTU of the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region had completed about per year, corresponding to 740,000 journeys.
The agglomeration community of Cambrai is the organising authority of urban transport. However, while it has twenty-three communes, only six were served by urban transport in 2006. For other towns and cities, the urban community has delegated jurisdiction to the department.
In a relatively sparsely populated agglomeration with little extensive public transport, it cannot easily compete with the automobile. Nevertheless, the agglomeration community of Cambrai reflects on the future of urban transport from a perspective of sustainable development, with aims to strengthen the supply of public transport in order to capture a portion of travel by private car, and reducing car traffic and CO2 emissions. The realisation of the new multimodal transport hub in the quarter of the railway station of Cambrai is part of this policy.
These two quarters were joined in the 11th century when Bishop Gérard I built the churches of Saint Nicolas and the Saint Sepulchre, southeast of the city and east of Mont-des-Bœufs. The town hall, the market, butcher and various bodies of craftsmen settled in this new urban space that Bishop Lietbert had protected by an earth rampart. Even today the Grand-place, the covered market, and a few names of streets (the Rue de Liniers, Rue des Rôtisseurs, Rue des Chaudronniers and Rue des Cordiers) recall this stage of urban development.p.37-38
The Bishop Gérard II later replaced the earth rampart with a stone wall with towers, gates and ditches and encompassed the entire built space. Therefore Cambrai had reached the perimeter it would retain until the 19th century: While other cities in the region such as Bruges, Ghent or Douai expanded their enclosures until the 14th century, that of Cambrai was redesigned and reinforced, but without affecting the outline.p.61-62p.355 The outline of this wall from the 11th century is still visible in the current boulevards.
It was probably under the episcopates of the bishops Gérard I, Liebert and Gérard II, in the 11th century, that was built the , a fortress located on the edge of the Scheldt to the northwest of the city. In the 13th century, the Bishop Nicolas III de Fontaines ordered work to put it "on a good foot of defence". This castle, owned by the bishop-counts, was intended as much to monitor the city as to ensure the defence. Its military role ended in the 16th century, when Charles V grabbed the city and ordered the construction, on Mont-des-Bœufs northeast of the town, of a citadel for which 800 houses were demolished along with the Abbey of Saint Gaugericus.p.106 The Château de Selles was then used as a prison.
The dismantling of the fortifications, requested by petition as early as 1862, was finally accepted by the State after a further 30 years.p.236-240. The work lasted 6 years and transformed the appearance of the city by the construction of a belt of wide , the sale of new land to build, connecting the city to its suburbs and the establishment of public gardens.
Throughout the Middle Ages, and again in modern times, the Scheldt and its arms required constant work: Repair of levees, enhancement of pavement, straightening of the bed, as well as the digging of ditches to regulate the course of the river, prevent floods and ensure as far as possible a steady water level, on which the mills and tanneries depended. Despite these works, floods were frequent.p.63 The absorption of rainwater and household water descending from the upper areas of the city was also a problem. Bouly spoke in 1842, in his History of Cambrai and le Cambrésis, of "fast torrents stormwater formed today by rolling up the Scheldt". In the Middle Ages the "flow of el kayère" (or "flow of the chair"),So named because of the neighboring pillory close to the current Grand-Place, was dug a reservoir for "water courses of the falling waters of the sky", i.e. to control the flow of rainwater. In the 19th century aqueducts were built to carry these waters, and the streets were paved. Furthermore, in 1926 a drainage sewer was built at Rue Blériot.
The draining of the wetlands that surround the town began in 1804. The work ended in 1951 with the drying of the small stream of Saint Benoît near the Liberty Stadium, itself built on this wetland which dominated the ancient city walls, and in 1953 with the covering of the Clicotiau.
The Leprince-Ringuet plan was only partially achieved, but the streets were removed, others expanded, and new paths were created as the Avenue de la Victoire Avenue.
Further destruction due to the Allied bombing of April–August 1944 again required a reconstruction. It was especially, in the years following World War II, to rehouse the victims and to cope with the expanding population. Priority was given to detached houses, and new quarters appeared, such as the "Martin–Martine" subdivision south-east of the city. In the 1980s, the municipality worked to restore and develop the ancient heritage.
The proportion of house owners, at 44.3%, is lower than in the rest of the country (57.5%). The tenants are much more numerous, 54.1% in Cambrai, against little more than 40% in France. Among rental housing, the proportion of HLM housing, at 16.7%, is significantly higher than the national average of 14.8%.
The age of the accommodation in Cambrai is distinguished from both regional and national averages. Housing is older, on average, in Cambrai than in the rest of the country. The proportion of (pre-1945) "old" housing, is 33.5%, which is significantly higher than the French average of 22.2%. Meanwhile, dwellings built between 1946 and 1970 account for 37.0% of the total in Cambrai, significantly above the 21.5% of the country. This proportion can probably be explained by the necessary reconstruction which followed the destruction of World War II, as well as programmes of Maison Familiale group homes in the 1960s and 1970s. More recent housing is relatively less in the city than in the rest of France or even in the region: 7.3% of accommodation in Cambrai was built between 1991 and 2005, compared with 16.1% in France; 5.2% have been built since 2006, compared with 10.9% in France. This is probably a consequence of the less dynamic economy and population of the city in recent years.
The agglomeration community seeks to improve the quality of the accommodation by various means: Encourage rehabilitation of vacant properties, expand available accommodation which is suitable for elderly or handicapped people, increase the supply of rentals and promote the construction of more energy-efficient housing. The creation of 960 new social houses was provided over six years, from 2008 to 2014.
The signed in 2007 with the city and the urban community was the first of the Nord department. Five quarters, not classified as "sensitive urban areas", are concerned: The old centre where old habitat remains, the l'Amérique and La Forêt estates, consisting primarily of multi-family housing, and the d'Esnes and de Guise estates dominated by single-family housing.
On the other hand, the revolves around eight themes: "Cambrai, an urban centre in the countryside", "Preserve and enhance the natural, rural and agricultural space", "Reclaim and restructure", "Render Cambrai fully in its urbanity", "Build upon the city of history", "Save and protect the environment, improve the quality of the living environment", "Ensuring economic and sustainable development", and also "Mastering travel or promoting changes in modes of transport".
This is also found in the anthroponym of Chambray (Eure) ( Cambracus 1011, Cameragus to 1025). Variants Cambarius and Camarius would also explain Cambayrac, Chambry in Aine and the same in Seine-et-Marne, Chamery, Chémery, etc. François de Beaurepaire Les noms des communes et anciennes paroisses de l'Eure, éditions Picard 1981. p.87. notes that it may also be a pre-Latin camar or cambar theme. However, Xavier Delamarre cited the personal name Cambarius, which he considers as based on the Gallic word cambo- "curve" (cf. old Irish camb, camm "curved", "bent" or "twisted"). Camarus would be a variant of this Gallic nickname meaning "that which is curved". Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise, éditions errance 2003. p.100.
The Cambrai shape is Normanno-Picard with a hard "C", characteristic of the north of the Joret line and therefore corresponds to the form of Francien type Chambray. In addition, the name of the town was written Cambray until the French Revolution.
It is known under the name of Kamerijk in Dutch language and formerly Kamerich in German language and Camberick/Cambrick in English language.
Cambresiens voters seem also more cautious with regard to the European Union and the French in general: The referendum on the ratification of the Treaty on European Union of 1992 was rejected by 53.35%, while at the national level it was approved by a narrow majority of 51.04%. In 2005, the draft law on the ratification of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe was rejected more widely in Cambrai (59.8% of voted "No") than at the national level (54.67%).
In the presidential election of 2007 the results of the second round were very close to national figures: 54.07% for Nicolas Sarkozy and 45.93% for Ségolène Royal, against respectively 53.06% and 46.94% at the national level. In the first round Jean-Marie Le Pen achieved a slightly better result at Cambrai (13.28%) than France (10.44%), while François Bayrou was in a reversed situation (16.77% against 18.57%). Arlette Laguiller (2.02%) and Olivier Besancenot (4.77%) were the only other candidates to exceed 1.5%. In the second round of the presidential election of 2002 Jacques Chirac arrived largely in the lead in Cambrai as in the rest of the country but Jean-Marie Le Pen's result was higher (21.11% against 17.79%).
In the legislative elections of 2007, François-Xavier Villain, the candidate related to the UMP and who was also the incumbent Mayor of Cambrai, achieved 57.42% in the first round (48.03% in the constituency). All the other candidates were below the national percentage of their party. For example, the Socialist Party achieved 22.91% against 24.73%, the Communist Party at 3.10% compared to 4.29% and the UDF at 6.21% against 7.61%. The decline of the National Front was also more marked in Cambrai (4.14%) than elsewhere (4.24%). One finds a situation close to the 2002 elections.
In the first round of the presidential election of 2012, the four candidates in the lead in Cambrai were Nicolas Sarkozy (UMP, 28.29%), François Hollande (PS, 27.56%), Marine Le Pen (FN, 20.81%) and Jean-Luc Mélenchon (Left Front, 10.14%) with a turnout of 72.61%. In the second round, François Hollande was in the lead with 50.75% of the vote, with a participation rate of 73.09%.
Since 22 December 1992, Cambrai is the seat of the which includes 33 communes and approximately 68,000 inhabitants. The city also adheres to the following intercommunal structures:
Cambrai was merged with the commune of Morenchies in 1971.
The city is now within the jurisdiction of the . It is the seat of a whose jurisdiction coincides with the boundaries of the arrondissement, a Tribunal d'instance and an industrial tribunal, installed in the restored . With the reform of the judicial map launched in 2007 the city has lost its commercial court and is linked to that of Douai.
The urban unit ( unité urbaine) of Cambrai had 46,772 inhabitants in 2018, and the urban area ( aire urbaine) 94,576 inhabitants. In other less populated regions, Cambrai would be an important city, but in Nord-Pas-de-Calais, densely populated and urbanised, the city and its suburbs come far behind Lille (1,143,125 inhabitants), Douai-Lens (552,682), Valenciennes (399,677), Dunkirk (265,974) and Maubeuge (125,000).
The population of Cambrai increased little over the centuries: Estimated at 10,000 souls in the 15th century, it is, according to a memorandum of intendant who described it as "very diminished", at 12,000 in 1698.p.95 At the end of the Revolution, in 1801, it was still only approximately 15,000 inhabitants.
It increased slowly but steadily throughout the 19th century with a net decline in the early 20th century: the birth rate, as everywhere else in France, declined. At the same time, infant mortality remained high (20.3% in 1900, 10.2% on the eve of the war),p.247 which explains the low natural growth.
The population growth resumed at a rapid pace between the end of World War II and the beginning of the 1970s (the Trente Glorieuses), through natural increase (baby boomers and sharp decline of infant mortality) and the Rural flight, which slowly emptied the villages of Cambrésis of their population (partial) towards the town of Cambrai. This dynamism, however, showed however signs of stalling since 1968: in fact, the progress of jobs (+27.5% from 1952 to 1975) did not follow that of the population (+44.2%).p.281
The curve was brutally reversed by the 1973 oil crisis. The city's population plummeted from the 1975 census, net migration which was largely positive in the 1960s became negative, while the natural balance, which remains positive, tends to shrink. Many traditional activities have disappeared (chocolate production, brewery, chicory, weaving, metallurgy, etc.), representing several thousand jobs.
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The distribution of the population over the age of 15 years, and not enrolled in study, showed lower education rates than those of metropolitan France in 2017, most significantly in the higher levels (Baccalauréat or Bac+5 years of study).
The department manages four : Jules-Ferry, Fénelon, Lamartine and Paul-Duez.
The Nord-Pas-de-Calais region operates four : Fénelon, Paul-Duez and the vocational Louise de Bettignies and Louis-Blériot. Cambrai also has a private institution, the ensemble of Saint-Luc, bringing together three former private schools merged in September 2009: Collège Jeanne d'Arc, Institution Notre Dame de Grace (college and high school of general and technological education) and the vocational high school La Sagresse.
UVHC antenna prepares eleven diplomas, which include of DUT, IUP, Master Pro, professional licenses (including "Cultural Actions and Promotion of Heritage" and "Trades of Archaeology") and licenses.
The branch of Lille-2 prepares to obtain a license "mention droit" or "mention economic and social administration", as well as three professional licenses: For management of small-medium businesses, for transportation of goods and for security professions.
Finally, Catholic teaching. The whole of Saint Luc de Cambrai was a centre of higher education (Sup'Sagesse) from Bac+1 to Bac+5: BTS optician, BTS insurance, NRC, MUC, AG and AM, two professional licenses ("Operational Marketing Manager" and "Contingency Insurance and Management of Goods") and finally a Professional Master of "Entrepreneurial Strategy and Management", opened to the entrepreneurs.
With nearly 500 students in alternation, learning or school track, Sup'Sagesse is a real city centre campus, incorporating a boarding school.
Other institutions of higher education in Cambrai are the and the Institute of Nursing Education.
Among the Alumnus of the École des Beaux-Arts of Cambrai are Marie-Anne and Ludovic Belleval who are now both the Lamour Mill's Ownership and in Briastre.
The Saint-Julien hospital, which housed the poor and the sick, was founded in 1070. Today it remains as a chapel adjoining the municipal theatre. Over the following centuries, other hospitals were founded: The Saint-Lazare Hospital for lepers, the Charité Hospital, Saint-Jean Hospital, the Saint Jacques au Bois Hospital to welcome the pilgrims, the general hospice of La Charité founded in 1752 to accommodate the elderly, beggars and the marginalised.
After World War II, the construction of a modern hospital was envisaged.
The Central Hospital of Cambrai has a capacity of 770 beds and 108 seats. It employs a staff of 150 officers and has a non-medical staff of 1,200. Three annex buildings are reserved for medium and long stay, maternity (1982) and Psychiatry (1983–1884) patients. A Nursing Training Institute was opened in 1967.
The work for the construction of the present site began in 1959, the installation of the patients being carried out between 1966 and 1968. In 2007, the work to modernise and expand the central hospital was undertaken.
The 2010 prize list of "the safest hospitals" places the Central Hospital of Cambrai as the 11th best in the national ranking.
Cambrai has three private clinics: The Sainte-Marie Clinic, Saint-Roch clinic and the Cambrésis Clinic.
As a result of the planned closure in 2012 , Cambrai and Cambrésis are classified from 1 January 2010 and until 31 December 2012 in the free zone "Zone of Defence Restructuring", allowing enterprises to create, settle or develop tax and social security exemptions.
Economic activity declined under the First Empire due to the wars and the British blockade. In the 19th century, the textile industry remained as the dominant activity of the city, with 2,546 workers, men, women and children, in 1848.p.222 Batiste made the bulk of Cambrai's trade with other productions such as soap and refined sea salt. The food industry grew: Brasserie, chicory; the Bêtise de Cambrai was invented in 1850.
In the 19th century, the city was industrialised, especially when compared to its neighbours. Municipal officials often refused the installation of new factories, on behalf of sanitation or lack of space. The Sucrerie centrale de Cambrai was created in 1872, by Jules LinardWilliam Marlière, Croissance et mutations d'une entreprise agro-alimentaire : La Sucrerie Centrale de Cambrai, mémoire de maîtrise. on the territory of the town of Escaudœuvres. However, according to the census of 1886, industry was supporting more than 9,000 people, while agriculture used only 2,000 at most. The city mainly developed its commercial function: At the beginning of the 20th century the branch of the Bank of France from Cambrai ranked 12th in France, before Nice and Toulouse.p.244
The economy of Cambrai is based on four pillars:
The Central Hospital of Cambrai, the commune of Cambrai, Auchan, Les Papillons blancs, Cora, TANIS (chemistry, rubber, plastic), the Compagnie des Engrenages et Réducteurs Messiaen Durand (mechanical equipment) and the departmental fire and rescue service were, in order, the eight major employers in the town, in 2008.
In 2008, 263 Cambrai tax households performed the solidarity tax on wealth, for a mean wealth of €1.665 million and an average tax amount of €5,017.
The distribution of jobs by business sector shows the predominant weight (almost 90%) of the tertiary sector. This distribution reflects the role which the administrative and commercial centre plays in the commune for the surrounding countryside.
The distribution of jobs by socio-professional categories shows under-representation of "executives and intellectual professions", and "farmers", as well as an over-representation of the "intermediary professions" and "employees".
The journeys to work are mostly by car (75.9%, France 70.5%) and one can note the low weight of public transport (5.8% against an average of 15.1% in France).
Musically, the town of Cambrai receives two festivals. Firstly, the Juventus classical music festival. The Juventus association mark young talented European soloists. They are appointed, if they accept it, "Juventus Winners" during their first participation in a Juventus festival. Every summer the old and the new winners gather for a fortnight at the festival to prepare chamber music concerts in exceptional conditions. Juventus, established in 1991 at the Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans, was set at Cambrai from 1998 with the help of the General Council of the department. Meanwhile, is an alternative music festival, which has been organised since 2003. It is organised during the month of April. Les Féodales is a street show which represents the Middle Ages. The last edition took place in 2008.
The Cambrai city hall is the national headquarters of the Union for the horse breed of the "Trait du Nord". The Trait du Nord national competition is traditionally held during the last weekend of July at the Palais des Grottes. Bringing together the elite of the breed, it ends on Sunday afternoon on the Place de l'hôtel de Ville with a grand parade, the most important festive presentation in France of a breed of draft horses.
Cambrai is part of the territory served by radio BLC, a community radio station whose programmes are broadcast from Caudry. The inhabitants of Cambrai also have, in addition to some national radio stations, the programmes of France Bleu Nord, Chérie FM Cambrai and RFM Nord.
The city is covered by the programmes of France 3 Nord and the national DTT channels. It also received the regional channel of . Oxygen TV is a Web television channel "100% of Cambrai" devoted to local information.
Cambrai is the seat of a Catholic , Suffragan bishop of Lille since 29 March 2008. Until then, it was the opposite situation with the Archdiocese of Cambrai as the metropolitan archdiocese and Lille and Arras as its suffragans. The Archdiocese of Cambrai includes the arrondissements of Cambrai, Valenciennes and Avesnes-sur-Helpe. The deanery of Cambrai brings together 13 churches grouped into two :
Our Lady of Grace
and Saint Vaast-Saint Géry.
The Baptists community has an Evangelical Baptist Church,
just as there is a parish of the Reformed Church of France.
The Moroccan cultural and religious association of Cambrai manages the Al Mohssinine Mosque of Escaudain.
Facilities include six gymnasiums, two swimming pools, of which the Liberty Swimming Centre was rebuilt and reopened in 2008, the Arsenal de Balagny, which was built between 1581 and 1595, abandoned by the army in 1967 and then rehabilitated as a gym, a leisure centre, a hockey stadium, a rugby stadium and many football pitches, including the Liberty Stadium, home of AC Cambrai.
Cambrai has a rowing club that goes under the name of Union Nautique de Cambrai. The club is regularly present to the Rowing French Championships. In the early 2000s, one of its feminine team members made it to the World Championships. Since then, the club has been in the phase of beginning a new cycle based on renewed team members, especially youngsters.
Every year, the club is home to the Regattas of Cambrai, during which clubs from Northern France gather for sprint-races on a 1000m distance.
The game of is practiced traditionally in regions of Cambrai and Douai.
Cambrai was the departure point for Stage 4 of the 2004 Tour de France and once again the departure point of Stage 4 in the 2010 Tour de France.
Cambrai hosted the finish of Stage 4 in the 2015 Tour de France, on 7 July, with a route from Seraing.
In 2010, the newspaper L'Équipe ranked Cambrai among the top five cities as the most sporty in France with more than 20,000 inhabitants, along with Lorient, Colmar, Antibes and Tarbes. The special prize of "Sport and Disability" was awarded to the city for its access to sport for people with disabilities.
During the French Revolution all of the religious buildings of the town were sold as national property and destroyed, including the old cathedral. Only four churches, a converted attic, a hospital, a temple of reason and a prison, were spared.
The dismantling of the fortifications, from 1894, led to the disappearance of many City gate. Some have been preserved thanks to the interventions of the Society of Emulation of the city.
World War I was again responsible for significant destruction, the German army having undermined and torched the city centre before retreating in September 1918. A total of 1,214 buildings were destroyed, including the city hall, which was rebuilt in the neoclassical style before the Revolution by the architects Jacques Denis Antoine and Nicolas-Henri Jardin.p.208
Finally at the end of World War II, in April 1944, and then again in May, July and until 11 August, Cambrai suffered Allied bombardments. A total of 55% of the buildings were heavily damaged and 13% were completely destroyed.
Despite this considerable destruction, the city kept an important monumental heritage. Cambrai has been classified as a City of Art and History since 1992, the first town of the Nord department to obtain this prestigious label.
The apse contains the monumental tomb of Fénelon, a masterpiece of the sculptor David d'Angers, and the semitransepts with l'Icône Notre Dame de Grâce the and the nine reputed by Geeraerts of Antwerp. The grand organs were built by the house of of Ixelles in 1897. After the events of World War I, extensive restoration was undertaken by the organ builder Auguste Convers, who brought the current instrument to 49 stops with 3,670 pipes. The building was classified in the inventory of Historic Monuments on 9 August 1906.
The most commonly called the College of the Jesuits' Chapel, completed in 1692, is a unique example of Baroque art in France, to the north of Paris. The chapel served as a prison to the nearby Revolutionary Court in 1794, and it was classified in the inventory of Historic Monuments on 30 April 1920.
The , a listed historical monument since 26 November 1919, is one of the oldest monuments of Cambrai. It contains a remarkable Rood screen in polychromatic marble carved by the Cambrai native Gaspard Marsy as well as La mise au tombeauu by Peter Paul Rubens dating from 1616. The grand organs built in 1867 by Joseph Merklin were the subject of a significant transformation in 1978. The current instrument has 41 stops. This church has been the subject of a restoration of the frontage and roofing over a period of four years (2011–2015).
Other buildings of Cambrai are also classified or listed as Historic Monuments. The former has been registered since 2 March 1943, and the have been classified as Historic Monuments since 1949.
The is an old fortified château, which was built in the 11th century. Once isolated by the waters of the Scheldt, it has retained its towers and walls and especially buried ducts. The ducts include much graffiti which attests to the desperation of the prisoners, confined on the orders of the Count-Bishop.
The (late 14th century), (17th century) and the (or Saint-Fiacre), the Caudron (1st half of the 15th century) and (16th century) are the remains of the medieval walls.
The city hall, renovated in 1932, opens onto the Grand'Place by a majestic Greek-style façade, surmounted by a bell tower where two bronze bell ringers, giant and Moorish type, strike the hours on a big bell above the big clock: , the protectors of the city. The marriage hall contains a series of frescoes and can be visited on request.
The Hotel de Francqueville (18th century) houses the rich collections of the , considerably enlarged and renovated in 1994. The relief map of the city, as it was at the end of the 17th century, is the starting point for essential guided tours of the city.
The Maison Espagnole Spanish, headquarters of the Tourist Office, dates from 1595 and is the last house which is half-timbered and gabled on regional-style street. Oak sculptures (chimeras and ) which adorned its façade in the 19th century are exposed on the first floor inside after undergoing a serious restoration. One can visit its medieval cellars. This building has been classified in the inventory of historical monuments on 31 August 1920.
The covered market, built after World War II, is home to lively Les Halles market days.
The subterranean space which extends below the centre of the city, as in other medieval cities, was explored in the middle of the 19th century as well as to the end of the 20th century. Carved into the white chalk, it includes galleries and Romanesque and Gothic vaulted rooms. There are also wells and niches for statues. These excavations have served as quarries for the extraction of construction materials, as well as stone for lime: The underground are inverted funnels about deep and wide at the base. This underground space was also used, until 1944, for shelters and caches during sieges, invasion or bombing. Their dating is uncertain: It is not impossible that some of these excavations were carved during the Roman era, but it is likely that they were spaced out over a long period, according to the needs. Tours are organised by the tourist office.
The current public garden dates from the 19th century, which saw the creation of green spaces in the middle to encourage Hygiene and which were liberated in addition to the areas occupied by the fortifications. This garden, divided into three distinct but contiguous parts, is located on the site of the old fortifications that surrounded the citadel built under Charles V:
These gardens, and in particular their statues, were damaged by the two world wars. In 1972, a modern hall, named as the Palais des Grottes Mansion and hosting exhibitions, trade fairs and concerts, was built in the middle of the garden of the same name.
A few other squares or gardens complement the green spaces of Cambrai: Fenelon Square, established in 1861 to the designs of Barillet-Deschamps on the site of the ancient metropolis and decorated in 1864 with a water fountain, that of the Place Marcelin Berthelot, which dates from 1911. This is at the foot of the walls of the Château de Selles, dating from the same year. That beside the Arquets tower dates from 1954.p.199 The avenues and boulevards planted with trees and flowers to complete make Cambrai a "green" city.
The Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art still officially retains its label "Musée de France",Label renewed by Ministerial Decree of 17 September 2003 although it was closed to the public in 1975. This private museum is managed by the diocese, which is looking for ways to reopen the collections to the public. The items of this collection may be the subject of loans for temporary exhibitions and include objects from the archaeological excavations of the city of Cambrai, architectural elements, sculpture, paintings, pieces of jewellery and liturgical ornaments. This museum's history began in 1926 when Monseignor , Archbishop of Cambrai, established a commission of religious history and sacred art aimed to inventory and preserve the archives and movable heritage of the diocese. Canon Cyrille Thelliez became secretary. In 1958, many religious objects from the diocese were gathered together and Thelliez founded the Diocesan Museum, the first religious art museum opened in France. The museum was installed in the former chapel of the Grand Seminary.
The Théâtre de Cambrai was built in 1924 by the architect , on the site of a chapel of the 16th century which was destroyed during World War I. The chapel had been abandoned for 25 years when its rehabilitation was undertaken in 1999. The renovated theatre was inaugurated in 2003. It is an Italian theatre of 700 seats which hosts various performances, including those of the Scènes mitoyennes Adjoining association and the .
The Palais des grottes Mansion situated in the public garden, is a large multi-purpose hall with a capacity of 1,500 people and which can accommodate concerts, (including the ), fairs or exhibitions. Its remarkable roof shape, formed of a paraboloid (or "saddle"), was built in 1974 by then-advanced techniques and demonstrates a concrete form of architecture in the 20th century.pp.216–217
The media library is a classified municipal library:
It has an important old fonds, with 956 manuscripts, the oldest dating back to the 7th century, from the confiscations made during the revolutionary era to religious communities, very important in the city, and emigrants of the region. This fonds was subsequently enriched by gifts, bequests and purchases.
In 1975, it was one of the first institutions to adopt the title of "media library". It is divided into four services: Youth, adults, library and local history and old books.
Cambrai has a national school of music and dramatic arts
which obtained the Conservatoire à rayonnement départemental label in 2007.
The gastronomy of Cambrai also accounts for other less known specialities: Tripe, liver pâté with plums, hare with grapes, hochepot of partridge with puréed lentils, but also the , fromage blanc with fine herbs, and also a cheese as , or even crackers and pain crotté muddy (a type of French toast).
The logo of the city is a stylisation of the steeples of the cathedral, the Saint-Géry Church and , a visual signature of the city, visible from afar. Locally, Cambrai is known as "the city of three spires".
From the late 19th century, two military units were stationed at Cambrai. The 1st Infantry Regiment was quartered at Cambrai from 1870 to 1914, when it left for Belgium, before returning in 1919. It was split between the citadel and the Renel barracks. In 1940 it was again sent to Belgium, before being dissolved in 1942 in the free zone and did not return to Cambrai. The arrived in Cambrai in 1889 and is the Mortier quarter. This regiment was dissolved at the end of World War I. After World War II the Mortier quarter was assigned to the Selection Centre No. 2, today disbanded.
Until 2012, the "René Mouchotte" was near the city, founded in 1953 and which hosted the 01.012 Fighter Squadron "Cambrésis" created in 1952, the 02.012 "Picardy" and the 03.012 "Cornouailles" Cornwall, as well as a ground-to-air defence squadron.
+ Demographic evolution 1968–2017
! scope=row Period
! scope=col 1968–1975
! scope=col 1975–1982
! scope=col 1982–1990
! scope=col 1990–1999
! scope=col 1999–2007
! scope=col 2007–2012
! scope=col 2012–2017
Age structure
Population distribution
+ Population not in training over the age of 15 by qualification (%)
! scope="col" Level
! scope="col" Cambrai
! scope="col" France
Education
Schools
University life
Health
Economy
Economic history
Business and shops
Perspectives
Income of the population and taxation
Employment
+ Distribution of jobs by fields of activity (end of 2015) + Distribution of employment by socio-professional categories (2017 Census)
Culture and heritage
Cultural events and festivities
Media
Religion
Sports
French sartorial heritage
Sites and monuments
Religious heritage
Military heritage
Civil heritage
Memorial heritage
Environmental heritage
Cultural heritage
Culinary specialities
Heraldry, motto
Military life
Cambrai in literature and cinema
Cambrai and philately
Notable people
See also
Notes
Sources
Bibliography
External links
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