Calais is a French commune, sub-prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region. Its inhabitants are called the Calaisiens. The city of Calais is the most populous city in the department, although it is not its capital, this function falling to Arras. It is also one of the most extensive (just behind the vast town of Oye-Plage). Facing the south-east of England, its port (first in France for the transport of passengers) and the Channel Tunnel make it the main French city of connection with Great Britain.
Buildings
The Tour de Guet is 39 meters high. It was built in the
13th century, mainly with bricks, called briques de sable, which are
typical of the Nord coastal plain and are therefore pale yellow in
colour. Built as part of a fortress as a watchtower (hence the name
"Lauerturm"), it received an oil-powered rotating beacon in 1818 and
also served as an optical telegraph in the first half of the 19th
century.
The lighthouse (French Phare) was built around 1848 and is
50 m high. It offers a good view of the port.
The Flemish
Renaissance-style town hall was built between 1910 and 1922 and has a
belfry (bell tower). Like 21 other bell towers in the region and the
Tour du Guet, it is a World Heritage Site.
In the square in front of
the town hall stands the monument Les Bourgeois de Calais (“The
Bourgeois of Calais”) by Auguste Rodin. It was created in 1895.
The
Church of Notre Dame from the 13th-15th centuries Century is an
extraordinary building complex, especially on the south side, where a
cistern is connected to the nave. The fortress-like character
illustrates the exposed position of Calais as an English bridgehead for
two centuries. On September 23, 1944, it was accidentally bombed by the
Allies a week before the city was liberated.
The historic theater
building stands on Boulevard de Jacquard, named after Joseph-Marie
Jacquard.
In art
An internationally known painting by William
Turner (1775–1851) Calais Pier (1803, 172 × 240 cm) shows the port
facility around 200 years ago and the difficulties associated with a
crossing.
Museums
Musée des Beaux-Arts et de la Dentelle
Museum of Fine Arts and Lace with an exhibition on the history of the
city
Musée de la Seconde Guerre Mondiale (Museum of the Second World
War) opposite City Hall with exhibits from the period of German
occupation 1940-1944
Calais is located on the north French coast, on the Strait of Dover,
the central stretch of the English Channel (French: la Manche) between
the North Sea (French: Mer du Nord) and the North Atlantic. It is
located at the narrowest part of the English Channel, just 34 km from
the south coast of England. On a clear day, the chalk cliffs of Dover
are visible. The place is the largest city, but not the seat of the
prefecture of department 62, Pas-de-Calais, and next to Boulogne the
most important port for shipping traffic with England. Nearby is the
French portal to the Eurotunnel in Coquelles/Sangatte. Calais is the
center of the tourism region Opal Coast (French Côte d'Opale).
To
the west of the city, the canal widens, with the coast running far south
there.
The core area of the city is divided into the old town
area within the old city fortifications and the younger suburb of St.
Pierre, which are connected by a boulevard.
Julius Caesar launched his two campaigns in 55 and 54 BC from Portus
Itius, a little southwest of today's Calais. to Britain.
From the
10th century to the English conquest of 1347
Calais, which belonged
to the counties of Boulogne and Flanders, probably originated from a
fishing village called Petresse, which was mentioned in a document in
938 and was transferred in that year as Pertinenz von Marck by the
Flemish Count Arnulf I of the Abbey of Saint-Bertin. Due to the
submission of England to the rule of the Normans (1066) and the
development of the cloth trade in Flanders, Calais developed into an
increasingly important port and trading center. Matthew of Alsace
founded the city of Calais in 1173, in whose economy fishing for herring
was dominant at the time. From the late 12th century, Calais replaced
nearby Wissant as a ferry port for trade (especially wool) between
England and Flanders. In the 1190s, merchants from Calais were able to
obtain the privilege of exemption from duty in all English ports, which
was later confirmed more often. When Calais was detached from Marck, the
guild of its merchants achieved recognition in 1210. In the meantime,
the city, including South Flanders, had become the property of the
French crown and was part of the Artois until it was conquered by the
English (1347).
When the Dauphin Louis (VIII) was invited by
barons and prelates rebelling against the English king John to take over
rule in England, he made Calais the starting point of the invasion of
Britain at the end of 1215; however, his enterprise failed. From 1224,
the Count of Boulogne, Philippe Hurepel, had fortifications built for
Calais and a castle nearby. In 1253, Countess Mathilde of Boulogne
granted Calais greater city rights and thus almost the status of an
independent municipality.
Towards the end of the 13th century,
seafarers from Calais often engaged in piracy, robbing English ships as
this was more lucrative than trading. This behavior intensified at the
beginning of the Hundred Years' War. After the Battle of Crecy, Calais
was conquered by King Edward III of England. besieged for eleven months
and finally taken in August 1347 by starving the trapped. According to
the chronicler Jean Froissart, six citizens of Calais saved the
townspeople from a bloodbath by making sacrifices to the enemy camp.
However, most of the inhabitants were expelled and English colonists and
soldiers gradually settled in Calais instead.
After its capture, Calais functioned as a heavily defended
English base in France; the Rysbank Fortress served to secure the
harbor entrance. In Calais, on October 24, 1360, the Anglo-French
peace that had been signed in Brétigny on May 8, 1360 was finally
ratified. provided that the ransom for the captured King John II
amounted to only 3 million Écus and that Eduard III. Gascony,
Guyenne, Limousin, the counties of Ponthieu and Guînes, Calais and
other areas in northern and western France were to be contractually
guaranteed. According to an additional agreement, Edward III. to
renounce the French crown and John II to accept that the ceded
territories now belonged to England until November 1361, which was
not followed and therefore contributed to the continuation of the
war.
Calais also functioned as a central trading station for
the export of English wool to the continent; the proceeds from the
customs duties levied were the main source of raising the sums of
money expended by Calais. Although the traditional administrative
system remained in place, the English government of Calais
established the wool staple in 1363, which was transferred to a
so-called staple consortium. Paying the approximately 1,100 British
occupation soldiers proved financially difficult, and the fiscal
revenue from the wool pile fell short of the estimates. From 1365
onwards, the municipal magistrate was headed by a mayor (maire)
appointed by the English monarch and several aldermen, but soon the
respective head of the stacker consortium also held the office of
maire for a long time.
Later in the Hundred Years' War, the
French King Charles VII was able to conquer Paris in April 1436.
Soon after, the Burgundian duke Philip the Good, who had defected to
the French side since the Treaty of Arras (1435), attempted to wrest
Calais from the English. The reason for this was not only the
plundering of the properties of Flemish and Picardian merchants in
London and English incursions into the territory of the Burgundian
duke out of anger at his change of sides, but also the fear of the
Dutch merchants of competition from the up-and-coming English cloth
industry. In June 1436 Philip appeared with a strong army before
Calais and proceeded to besiege it. However, his army's inexperience
and lack of discipline in war thwarted Philip's efforts at conquest.
The Ghent soldiers soon lost the desire to fight. When Duke Humphrey
of Gloucester then advanced with a 10,000-strong English relief
army, Philip did not dare a military confrontation against this
army, but lifted the siege of Calais in July 1436 before the Duke of
Gloucester arrived.
After a significant reduction in wool
imports, the Stapler Consortium leased all the duties levied in
Calais in 1466 and paid the wages of the soldiers stationed here in
return. From 1467 to 1482 it was allowed to collect all royal taxes
and dues for Calais, paying not only the costs for the soldiers but
also those necessary to ensure the continued functioning of the
fortifications.
After England entered the war of Spain against France in June 1557
under the reign of Queen Maria I on the side of her husband Philip II
and Spanish troops won a decisive victory at the Battle of Saint-Quentin
(10 August 1557). Having won France, François de Lorraine, duc de Guise,
who was then recalled from Italy, set about recapturing Calais for
France. The success of his enterprise, however, seemed to depend on the
surprise of the enemy and the secrecy of his plan. Therefore, he decided
to attack the city in the middle of winter. He rallied the French army
in Compiègne. Among others, the Prince of Condé and the Margrave
d'Elbeuf also took part in the campaign.
The Duke of Guise
appeared on January 1, 1558 with an army of 25,000 men in front of the
city and began the siege. The governor, Thomas Wentworth, 2nd Baron
Wentworth, was not fully prepared for a decisive defense and had to
leave all outworks to the French. Within a day they were in possession
of the Froyten and Nesle (Nieulet) works as well as the Newhaven width
and Fort Risban. They then laid batteries on the Peterhaide, with which
they fired at the wall, and another succeeded in breaching the castle.
The commander ordered the castle to be blown up. On the night of January
7, a detachment of French forded part of the harbor during low tide; the
firing of the mines was neglected, and that same night the French flags
flew over the walls of the city. On the morning of January 8, 1558, a
capitulation took place, after which the city surrendered with all
supplies on condition that the garrison leave freely. Thus England lost
its last possession on the continent to France.
With the loss of
Calais, the phase of English commercial policy, which had been based on
the exercise of the staple right, came to an end.
After the Peace of Cateau-Cambrésis (1559), Calais was to remain in
French hands for eight years and then be returned to the English; but
France retained it. Since then, the area of the city (Calaisis),
together with the adjacent county of Guînes, has been called the Pays
Reconquis, forming a sub-governorship of Picardy. The citadel was built
in 1561.
In 1596 the Spaniards under Archduke Albrecht VII of
Habsburg conquered Calais, which, however, was returned to France in
1598 by the Treaty of Vervins. In 1805, part of Napoleon's army,
intended for a planned but never carried out invasion of England, moved
into quarters in Calais. In the 19th century, the city was expanded
again as a fortress and port. In 1885 Calais and St. Pierre were united
into one city.
Calais was the main port of the English army in France during the First World War. During the Second World War it was conquered by Wehrmacht troops on May 25, 1940 (Western campaign). During the war there was great destruction. First the city was bombed by the Luftwaffe of the German Wehrmacht and later by the Western Allies. Calais, which was recaptured at the end of September 1944, also suffered a heavy, mistaken bombardment in February 1945 when British bomber pilots actually wanted to bomb Dunkirk, which was held by the Wehrmacht until the capitulation on May 8, 1945. There was hardly any reconstruction of the historic city center of Calais.
Several hundred transit migrants pass through Calais every year on
their way to Great Britain. Since the United Kingdom had only partially
joined the Schengen Agreement before Brexit, the border crossings
between France and England are controlled. Immigrants wishing to enter
the UK by land without an entry permit attempt to cross this border, for
example by hiding on or under lorries. Many of these travelers stay in
Calais for weeks or months, attempting to cross the English Channel
every night. During their time in Calais they are homeless. They find
accommodation in vacant houses or in the so-called jungle of Calais,
villages of huts made of plastic sheeting and pallets built in the
undergrowth.
In early September 2014, migrants attempted to storm
the port and board a Channel ferry. The migrants were repelled by
massive police operations and the timely departure of the ferry. Due to
the incident, the mayor of the city of Great Britain asked for help.
Britain agreed to donate three meter high fences to the city, formerly
used for the NATO meeting. The aim is to better secure the port against
illegal immigrants. From January to June 2015, around 37,000 people were
prevented from leaving for England; in the summer of 2015, migrants
began boarding trucks and trains in groups of up to 2,000 people. In
January 2016, British opposition leader Jeremy Corbyn visited a shanty
town and called for the refugees' right of entry and family
reunification.
The Catholic Churches in Calais belong to the Calais Deanery of the Diocese of Arras, specifically to the parishes of Pentecôte – Blanc Nez and Saint Vincent de Paul.
As a port city and starting point for canal crossings, Calais records
30 million transit passengers every year. Many jobs in the fishing,
textile and shipping industries have been lost in recent decades.
Unemployment is 15%. The tunnel terminal at Sangatte, a huge shopping
complex next to the Eurotunnel, benefits from tourists from England, the
booze cruisers, who buy cheap alcohol and cigarettes.
The Mission
2012 project planned investments of 100 million euros in tourism
infrastructure. In particular, some of the visitors to the 2012 Olympic
Games in London should be dressed in this way. In 2013, the city of
Calais established an art and culture center with shopping facilities in
the city's own shopping center, Center Commercial. The Buddy Bears
opened the new cultural venue as the first major art exhibition.
Calais-Fréthun train station is on the LGV Nord and close to the
Eurotunnel. Calais is the second largest passenger port in Europe, after
Dover. The seaport is north of the city on the Strait of Dover. Most of
the 60 daily ferry services operated by SeaFrance, DFDS and P&O Ferries
connect Calais with Dover. 1.7 million trucks cross here every year. The
SeaFrance shipping company was the largest employer in the city.
Public transport in Calais has been free since December 21, 2019.
From 1972 there was also a hovercraft connection to Dover, which was
operated by the shipping company Hoverspeed. The hovercrafts operated
from Hoverport Calais, east of the main port, and took around 30 minutes
to make the crossing. They were replaced in 2000 by catamarans, which
ceased operations in November 2005 due to the bankruptcy of shipping
company Hoverspeed.
The Autoroute A26 connects Calais to Paris
(295 km). Southeast of the city, the A26 intersects with the A16 coastal
motorway, which leads to Boulogne-sur-Mer (36 km) to the west and
Belgium to the east.
Calais-Dunkerque Airport is located
northeast of Calais.