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Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located 15 km (6 mi) inland from the English Channel.

Caen is known for its historical buildings built during the reign of William the Conqueror, who was buried here, and for the Battle for Caen—heavy fighting that took place in and around Caen during the Battle of Normandy in 1944, destroying much of the town.

History

Almost 600 years before being devastated in 1944 during World War II, Caen was similarly ravaged by war in 1346 when King Edward III of England led his army against the city, the richest in Normandy at the time, hoping to loot it. On 26 July 1346 his troops stormed the city and sacked it, killing 3,000 of its citizens and burning much of the merchants' quarter. During the attack English officials searched its archives and found a copy of the 1339 Franco-Norman plot to invade England, devised by Philip VI of France and Normandy. This was subsequently used as propaganda to justify the supplying and financing of the conflict and its continuation. Only the castle of Caen held out, despite attempts to besiege it. A few days later the English left, marching to the east and on to their victory at the Battle of Crécy.

During the Battle of Normandy in World War II, Caen was liberated in early July, a month after the Normandy landings, particularly those by British I Corps on June 6, 1944. British and Canadian troops had intended to capture the town on D-Day. However they were held up north of the city until July 9, when an intense bombing campaign during Operation Charnwood destroyed much of the city but allowed the Allies to seize its western quarters, a month later than Montgomery's original plan. During the battle, many of the town's inhabitants sought refuge in the ''Abbaye aux Hommes'' (Men's Abbey), built by William the Conqueror some 800 years before. Post-WWII work included the reconstruction of complete districts of the city and the university campus. It took 14 years (1948-1962) and led to the current urbanization of Caen. Having lost many of its historic quarters and its university campus in the war, the city doesn't possess what some might call the 'feel' of a traditional Normandy town such as Honfleur, Rouen, Cabourg, Deauville and Bayeux.

The Canadian Army Film and Photo Unit filmed the D-Day offensive and Orne breakout several weeks later, then returned several months later to document the town's recovery efforts. The resulting film ''You Can't Kill a City'' is preserved at the National Archives of Canada.

From 1912 to 1993, the SMN produced steel at the SMN plant to the East of the city. The land is now an industrial estate used by the food industry.

Images

Etymology

Year 1070 of the Parker manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refers to Caen as ''Kadum'' . Despite a lack of sources as to the origin of the settlements, the name Caen would seem to be of Gaulish origin, from the words ''catu-'', referring to military activities and ''magos'', field, hence meaning ''manoeuvre field'' or ''battlefield''.

Geography

Caen is in an area of high humidity. The Orne River flows through the city, as well as small rivers known as ''les Odons'', most of which have been buried under the city to improve urban hygiene.

Caen is 10 km mi 0 abbr=on from the Channel. A canal (Canal de Caen à la Mer) parallel to the Orne was built during the reign of Napoleon III to link the city to the sea at all times. The canal reaches the English Channel at Ouistreham. A lock keeps the tide out of the canal and lets large ships navigate up the canal to Caen's freshwater harbours.

Main sights

Castle

The castle, ''Château de Caen'', built circa 1060 by William the Conqueror, who successfully conquered England in 1066, is one of the largest medieval fortresses of Western Europe. It remained an essential feature of Norman strategy and policy. At Christmas 1182 a royal court celebration for Christmas in the aula of Caen Castle brought together Henry II and his sons, Richard the Lionheart and John Lackland, receiving more than a thousand knights. Caen Castle, along with all of Normandy, was handed over to the French Crown in 1204. The castle saw several engagements during the Hundred Years' War (1346, 1417, 1450) and was in use as a barracks as late as World War II. Today, the castle serves as a museum that houses the ''Musée des Beaux-Arts de Caen'' (Museum of Fine Arts of Caen) and ''Musée de Normandie'' (Museum of Normandy) along with many periodical exhibitions about arts and history . (See )

Abbeys

In repentance for marrying his cousin Mathilda of Flanders, William ordered two abbeys to be built on the Pope's encouragement:

Others

Administration

Recent Mayors of Caen have included:

In 1952, the small commune of Venoix became part of Caen.

In 1990, the agglomeration of Caen was organized into a district, transformed in 2002 into a ''Communauté d'agglomération'' (''Grand Caen'' (Greater Caen), renamed Caen la Mer in 2004), gathers 29 towns and villages, including Villons-les-Buissons, Lions-sur-mer, Hermanville-sur-mer, which joined the Communauté d'agglomération in 2004. The population of the ''communauté d'agglomération'' is around 220000 inhabitants.

In the former administrative organisation, Caen was a part of 9 cantons, of which it is the chief town. These cantons contain a total of 13 towns. Caen gives its name to a 10th canton, of which it is not part.

Transport

Caen has a recently built, controversial guided bus system—built by Bombardier Transportation and modelled on its Guided Light Transit technology—and a very efficient network of city buses, operated under the name Twisto. Faced with the residents' anger against the project, the municipality had to pursue the project with only 23% of the population in favour of the new form of transport—residents were in favour of trams rather than buses. The road layout of the city centre was deeply transformed and the formerly traffic-jam-free centre's problems are still unresolved. The city is also connected to the rest of the Calvados département by the Bus Verts du Calvados bus network.

Caen-Carpiquet Airport is the biggest airport in Lower-Normandy considering the number of passengers that it serves every year, and offers commuting possibilities to the whole of Europe. Most flights are operated by Brit Air and Chalair Aviation and the French national airline Air France operates three daily flights to the French city of Lyon, while in the summer there are many charter flights to Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria.

Caen is served by the small port of Ouistreham, lying at the mouth of the Caen Canal where it meets the English Channel. A ferry service operates between Portsmouth, England and Caen/Ouistreham running both standard roll-on-roll-off car ferries and supercat fast ferries, with the latter making crossing from March to November. The ferry terminal is 15 km mi abbr=on from Caen with a daytime shuttle bus service for foot passengers.

Caen is connected to the rest of France by motorways to Paris (A13), Brittany (A84) and soon to Le Mans (A88-A28). The A13 is a toll road while the A84 is a toll-free motorway. The city is encircled by the N814 ring-road that was completed in the late 1990s. The N13 connects Caen to Cherbourg and to Paris. A section of the former N13 (Caen-Paris) is now D613 (in Calvados) following road renumbering. The N814 ring-road includes an impressive viaduct called the Viaduc de Calix that goes over the canal and River Orne. The canal links the city to the sea to permit cargo ships and ferries to dock in the port of Caen. Ferries which have docked include the ''Quiberon'' and the ''Duc de Normandie''.

Although a fraction of what it used to be remains, Caen once boasted an extensive rail and tram network. From 1895 until 1936 the ''Compagnie des Tramways Electriques de Caen'' (Electrical Tramway Company of Caen) operated all around the city. Caen also had several main and branch railway lines linking Caen railway station to all parts of Normandy with lines to Paris, Vire, Flers, Cabourg, Houlgate, Deauville, Saint-Lô, Bayeux and Cherbourg. Now only the electrified line of Paris-Cherbourg, Caen-Le Mans and Caen-Rennes subsist with minimal services.

Education

Miscellaneous

Famous ''Caennais''

Caen was the birthplace of:

Twinnings

Caen is twinned with:

Caen has been twinned with Alexandria, Virginia-USA since 1991. The sister city relationship sees delegations visiting between the two cities on a regular basis. Exchanges of students have been common. Musicians and choirs from the two cities have also made very successful exchange visits. The Toussaint/Halloween period is a time of year when a delegation from Caen will often visit Alexandria.