68 Facts About Cambrai

1.

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.

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2.

Towards the end of the Roman Empire, Cambrai replaced Bavay as the "capital" of the land of the Nervii.

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3.

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.

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4.

Cambrai was the Duke of Wellington's headquarters, for the British Army of Occupation, from 1815 to 1818.

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5.

Cambrai today is a lively city and, despite the past destruction, maintains a rich monumental heritage.

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6.

Town of Cambrai is located in the south of the Nord Department, of which it is chef-lieu of the arrondissement.

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7.

Cambrai is not very far from several European capitals: Brussels is 108 kilometres, Paris is 160 kilometres and London is 279 kilometres .

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8.

Cambrai is located on chalk bedrock of the Cretaceous period, which forms the northern boundary of the Paris Basin, between, to the east, the hills for Thierache and Avesnois, the foothills of the Ardennes, and northwest, the hills of Artois.

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9.

The poor quality of the Cambrai chalk was reserved for use in the manufacture of lime or filling, as well as common constructions.

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10.

The river, still of a very modest flow in Cambrai, played a crucial role in the history of the city by providing multiple functions, including allowing the transportation of men and goods since antiquity.

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11.

Cambrai is located at the crossroads of two French autoroutes, the A2 from Combles to the Franco-Belgian border, opened in 1973, and the A26 from Calais to Troyes, opened in 1992.

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12.

Cambrai is directly connected by rail to any European city, but links to Paris are mediocre if compared to those of the neighbouring cities.

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13.

Cambrai was connected to Paris in 2010 by a single direct Intercites service of two hours, with a little-suited schedule for professional use.

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14.

Meanwhile, Cambrai had been linked, in 1858, to the Paris-Brussels line by a branch line from Busigny and joining Somain, near Douai.

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15.

Cambrai is one of the seven territorial subdivisions of the regional management of Nord-Pas-de-Calais of navigable waterways in France.

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16.

The construction of the Saint-Quentin canal, between Chauny on the Oise and Cambrai, was taken up in 1802 on the order of Napoleon I and completed in 1810, after the drilling of the Riqueval Tunnel.

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17.

Since 1933 the agglomeration of Cambrai has been served by a network of buses, five urban routes were operating in 2010, run by CFC :.

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18.

Since 7 January 2013, the agglomeration community of Cambrai has implemented a free shuttle which serves seventeen stops around the city.

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19.

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.

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20.

Old centre of Cambrai was established on a small rise overlooking, from the right bank, the marshy area of the Scheldt Valley.

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21.

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.

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22.

Cambrai is one of the most inaccessible cities imaginable; its fortifications have a formidable appearance when it follows covered paths narrow and tortuous, crossing ditches filled by the Scheldt.

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23.

Cambrai is built on the edge of the wide marshy area of the Scheldt Valley encircling the western part of the city, the Chateau de Selles to the north at the gate of the Holy Sepulchre in the south: Wet gardens, ponds, meadows, ponds and marsh formed a flood zone sometimes used for the defence of the city.

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24.

Cambrai's project, inspired with both a regionalist taste and the Hausmannian style, completely redesigned the layout of roads from the Middle Ages.

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25.

Age of the accommodation in Cambrai is distinguished from both regional and national averages.

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26.

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.

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27.

Cambrai thus reverted, but only briefly, to the Western Frankish Realm.

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28.

Cambrai henceforth belonged to the Holy Roman Empire, in an uncomfortable position on the border with France, until it was annexed by France eight centuries later after being captured by Louis XIV in 1677.

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29.

In 1227, following another period of unrest, the burghers of Cambrai finally had to give up their charters and accept the bishop's authority.

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30.

Cambrai then belonged to a commercial hansa of seventeen low country cities whose aim was to develop trade with the fairs in Champagne and Paris.

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31.

Cambrai has a distinguished musical history, particularly in the 15th century.

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32.

Cambrai cathedral had other famous composers in the later 15th century: Johannes Tinctoris and Ockeghem went to Cambrai to study with Dufay.

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33.

The most commonly accepted version runs as follows: around the year 1370, at the time of Bishop Robert, Count of Geneva, Martin, a blacksmith of Moorish descent established in Cambrai, was among the burghers who left the city to fight the lord of Thun-Leveque, who was then reputed to ransom the population around the city and generally to afflict the region.

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34.

Cambrai dealt such a heavy blow on his opponent's head that, although the helmet of the lord did not break, because it was made of good steel, it was driven down to his eyes.

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35.

Cambrai was the site of negotiations in 1529, concluding in the Paix des Dames, which led to France's withdrawal from the War of the League of Cognac.

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36.

In 1543 Cambrai was conquered by Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, and annexed to his already vast possessions.

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37.

Cambrai had the medieval monastery of Saint-Sepulchre demolished and a citadel built in its place.

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38.

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 Conde-sur-l'Escaut.

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39.

Cambrai came to be known as the "Swan of Cambrai", in opposition to his friend and rival Bossuet, the "eagle of Meaux", and he wrote his Maxims of the Saints while residing in the city.

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40.

Cambrai had a relentless zeal to enlighten the faithful and to convert the unfaithful.

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41.

Cambrai was to set up an era of "terror", sending many to the guillotine, until he was tried and executed in 1795.

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42.

From 20 November to 17 December 1917, the vicinity of the town of Cambrai was the theatre of the Battle of Cambrai, which saw the massive use of tanks for the first time.

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43.

Cambrai is the chef-lieu of one of the six arrondissements in the Nord department.

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44.

Cambrai is the seat of the canton of Cambrai, which consists of 27 communes .

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45.

Cambrai was for a short time the seat of the Parlement of French Flanders, from 1709 until its transfer to Douai in 1713.

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46.

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, Douai-Lens, Valenciennes, Dunkirk and Maubeuge .

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47.

Cambrai is the seat of a pool of training divided into three districts and dependent on the Education Authorities of Nord and the Academy of Lille.

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48.

Cambrai has a private institution, the ensemble of Saint-Luc, bringing together three former private schools merged in September 2009: College Jeanne d'Arc, Institution Notre Dame de Grace and the vocational high school La Sagresse.

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49.

The whole of Saint Luc de Cambrai was a centre of higher education from Bac+1 to Bac+5: BTS optician, BTS insurance, NRC, MUC, AG and AM, two professional licenses and finally a Professional Master of "Entrepreneurial Strategy and Management", opened to the entrepreneurs.

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50.

Medical density is quite good at Cambrai, when compared with the regional and national averages.

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51.

Cambrai has three private clinics: The Sainte-Marie Clinic, Saint-Roch clinic and the Cambresis Clinic.

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52.

Cambrai has a rowing club that goes under the name of Union Nautique de Cambrai.

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53.

Cambrai was the departure point for Stage 4 of the 2004 Tour de France and the departure point of Stage 4 in the 2010 Tour de France.

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54.

Cambrai hosted the finish of Stage 4 in the 2015 Tour de France, on 7 July, with a route from Seraing.

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55.

Cambrai is part of the territory served by radio BLC, a community radio station whose programmes are broadcast from Caudry.

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56.

The inhabitants of Cambrai have, in addition to some national radio stations, the programmes of France Bleu Nord, Cherie FM Cambrai and RFM Nord.

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57.

People of Cambrai have places of Catholic, Protestant and Muslim worship.

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58.

Cambrai is the seat of a Catholic archbishopric, suffragan of Lille since 29 March 2008.

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59.

The Archdiocese of Cambrai includes the arrondissements of Cambrai, Valenciennes and Avesnes-sur-Helpe.

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60.

The deanery of Cambrai brings together 13 churches grouped into two parishes: Our Lady of Grace and Saint Vaast-Saint Gery.

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61.

Cambrai is the seat of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Cambresis.

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62.

The Central Sugar Factory of Cambrai was created in 1872, by Jules Linard on the territory of the town of Escaudœuvres.

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63.

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.

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64.

Cambrai has the label "Floral City" with three flowers awarded by the National Council of Floral Cities and Villages of France in the Foral Competition of Cities and Villages.

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65.

Musee des beaux-arts of Cambrai, opened in 1847 to present revolutionary seizures, has been installed since 1893 in a mansion of the 18th century, the Hotel de Francqueville.

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66.

Theatre de Cambrai was built in 1924 by the architect Pierre Leprince-Ringuet, 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.

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67.

Cambrai has a national school of music and dramatic arts which obtained the Conservatoire a rayonnement departemental label in 2007.

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68.

Cambrai is a small, quiet and sleepy city of Artois, to the name of which is attached many historical memories.

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