Calais, France

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.

 

Sights

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

 

Geography

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.

 

History

Antiquity

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.

 

Under English rule

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.

 

French reconquest (1558)

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.

 

From the second half of the 16th century to the 19th century

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.

 

20th century

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.

 

Migrants

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.

 

Religion

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.

 

Infrastructure

Business

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.

 

Traffic

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.