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Caen
KNOWLEDGE OF Caen
Caen is a city and a commune of northwestern France. It is the préfecture (administrative capital) of the Calvados département, and the capital of the administrative Basse-Normandie (Lower Normandy) région. Population 115,000, total urban sprawl around 200,000. The inhabitants are called Caennais.
Caen is known for historical buildings built in the time of William the Conqueror, who was buried here, and for the hammering it took during the Battle of Normandy in 1944.
During the Battle of Normandy in World War II, Caen saw intense and bitter combat between Allied and Axis forces. British and Canadian forces finally captured during Operation Charnwood, and the city on July 9, 1944. In the preceding month-long battle, many of the town's inhabitants had sought refuge in the Abbaye aux Hommes, built on the orders of William the Conqueror some 800 years before. Post-WWII rebuilding took 14 years (1948-1962) and led to the current urbanization of Caen.
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 towns recovery efforts. The resulting film YOU CAN'T KILL A CITY is preserved at the National Archives of Canada.
Caen is built in an area of high humidity. The Orne flows through Caen, as well as different small rivers known as les Odons, most of them having been buried under the city to improve urban hygiene.
Caen sits 10 km away from the Channel. A canal was built under Napoleon III and runs parallel to the river Orne to link Caen to the sea at all times. The canal reach the English Channel at Ouistreham. A lock prevents the canal from withstanding the effects of the tide and permits large ships to navigate up the canal to Caen's freshwater harbours.
Castle
The castle (Château de Caen), built ca. 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 it serves as a museum enclosure. (See Timeline of Caen Castle)
Abbeys
In repentance for marrying his cousin Mathilda of Flanders, William also ordered two abbeys to be built:
Abbaye aux Hommes (Men's Abbey), the current town hall of Caen. It was completed in 1063 and is dedicated to St Stephen.
Abbaye aux Dames (Women's Abbey), current houses regional council (conseil régional) of Basse-Normandie. It was completed in 1060 and is dedicated to Saint Giles.
Others
Saint-Pierre church.
Memorial pour la Paix, a Museum for Peace established in 1988, charting the events leading up to and after D-Day. It is an emotional presentation inviting meditation on the thought of Elie Wiesel: "Peace is not a gift from God to man, but a gift from man to himself".
Saint Étienne abbey-church, where a slab marks the place of the tomb of William the Conqueror, though his bones were scattered by Huguenots in 1562, during the French Wars of Religion.
Caen is known for historical buildings built in the time of William the Conqueror, who was buried here, and for the hammering it took during the Battle of Normandy in 1944.
During the Battle of Normandy in World War II, Caen saw intense and bitter combat between Allied and Axis forces. British and Canadian forces finally captured during Operation Charnwood, and the city on July 9, 1944. In the preceding month-long battle, many of the town's inhabitants had sought refuge in the Abbaye aux Hommes, built on the orders of William the Conqueror some 800 years before. Post-WWII rebuilding took 14 years (1948-1962) and led to the current urbanization of Caen.
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 towns recovery efforts. The resulting film YOU CAN'T KILL A CITY is preserved at the National Archives of Canada.
Caen is built in an area of high humidity. The Orne flows through Caen, as well as different small rivers known as les Odons, most of them having been buried under the city to improve urban hygiene.
Caen sits 10 km away from the Channel. A canal was built under Napoleon III and runs parallel to the river Orne to link Caen to the sea at all times. The canal reach the English Channel at Ouistreham. A lock prevents the canal from withstanding the effects of the tide and permits large ships to navigate up the canal to Caen's freshwater harbours.
Castle
The castle (Château de Caen), built ca. 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 it serves as a museum enclosure. (See Timeline of Caen Castle)
Abbeys
In repentance for marrying his cousin Mathilda of Flanders, William also ordered two abbeys to be built:
Abbaye aux Hommes (Men's Abbey), the current town hall of Caen. It was completed in 1063 and is dedicated to St Stephen.
Abbaye aux Dames (Women's Abbey), current houses regional council (conseil régional) of Basse-Normandie. It was completed in 1060 and is dedicated to Saint Giles.
Others
Saint-Pierre church.
Memorial pour la Paix, a Museum for Peace established in 1988, charting the events leading up to and after D-Day. It is an emotional presentation inviting meditation on the thought of Elie Wiesel: "Peace is not a gift from God to man, but a gift from man to himself".
Saint Étienne abbey-church, where a slab marks the place of the tomb of William the Conqueror, though his bones were scattered by Huguenots in 1562, during the French Wars of Religion.
Alfred