Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the

Nord Nord, a word meaning "north" in several European languages, may refer to: Acronyms * National Organization for Rare Disorders, an American nonprofit organization * New Orleans Recreation Department, New Orleans, Louisiana, US Film and televisi ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

and in the

Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; pcd, Heuts-d'Franche; , also ''Upper France'') is the northernmost Regions of France, region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its Prefectu ...

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

on the

Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corr ...

river, which is known locally as the Escaut river. A

sub-prefecture A subprefecture is an administrative division of a country that is below prefecture or province. Albania There are twelve Albanian counties or prefectures, each of which is divided into several districts, sometimes translated as subprefecture ...

of the department, Cambrai is a town which had 32,501 inhabitants in 2018. It is in the heart of the

urban unit In France, an urban unit (''fr: "unité urbaine"'') is a statistical area defined by INSEE, the French national statistics office, for the measurement of contiguously built-up areas. According to the INSEE definition , an "unité urbaine" is a ...

of Cambrai with 46,772 inhabitants. Its functional area, a more extensive range, included 94,576 inhabitants in 2018.Comparateur de territoire: Aire d'attraction des villes 2020 de Cambrai (108), Unité urbaine 2020 de Cambrai (59403), Commune de Cambrai (59122)
INSEE With

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

and the towns of the former

Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin The Nord-Pas-de-Calais Mining Basin is a mining basin in Northern France that stretches across the Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments. The region is famous for its long history of coal extraction and its testimony to a significant period in the ...

, it is also part of the which has more than 3.8 million inhabitants. Towards the end of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

, Cambrai replaced

Bavay Bavay () is a commune in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. The town was the seat of the former canton of Bavay. The inhabitants of the commune are known as ''Bavaisiens'' or ''Bavaisiennes'' Geography Bavay ...

as the "capital" of the land of the

Nervii The Nervii were one of the most powerful Belgic tribes of northern Gaul at the time of its conquest by Rome. Their territory corresponds to the central part of modern Belgium, including Brussels, and stretched southwards into French Hainault. D ...

. At the beginning of the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gauli ...

era, Cambrai became the seat of an immense

archdiocese In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...

covering all the right bank of the

and the centre of a small

ecclesiastical principality A principality (or sometimes princedom) can either be a monarchical feudatory or a sovereign state, ruled or reigned over by a regnant-monarch with the title of prince and/or princess, or by a monarch with another title considered to fall under ...

, roughly coinciding with the shire of

Brabant Brabant is a traditional geographical region (or regions) in the Low Countries of Europe. It may refer to: Place names in Europe * London-Brabant Massif, a geological structure stretching from England to northern Germany Belgium * Province of Bra ...

, including the central part of the

Low Countries The term Low Countries, also known as the Low Lands ( nl, de Lage Landen, french: les Pays-Bas, lb, déi Niddereg Lännereien) and historically called the Netherlands ( nl, de Nederlanden), Flanders, or Belgica, is a coastal lowland region in N ...

. The bishopric had some limited secular power and depended on the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

until annexation to France in 1678. Fénelon, nicknamed the "Swan of Cambrai", was the most renowned of the archbishops. The fertile lands which surround it and the textile industry gave it prosperity in the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

, but in modern times it is less industrialised than its neighbours of

Nord-Pas-de-Calais Nord-Pas-de-Calais (); pcd, Nord-Pas-Calés); is a former administrative region of France. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Hauts-de-France. It consisted of the departments of Nord and Pas-de-Calais. Nord-Pas-de-Cala ...

. Cambrai was the

Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister of ...

's headquarters, for the British Army of Occupation, from 1815 to 1818. Occupied by the German army during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Cambrai suffered partial destruction in the First Battle of Cambrai from British artillery attacks on the town, including the nearby

Bourlon Bourlon () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. Geography A farming village located 22 miles (35 km) southeast of Arras on the D16 road, just yards from the A26 autoroute. Populatio ...

Wood. The fighting around Cambrai, known as the Battle of Cambrai (20 November 1917 – 3 December 1917) is notable in that it is considered to be the first mass use of

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and good battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engin ...

s in battle. A second Battle of Cambrai took place between 8 and 10 October 1918 as part of the

Hundred Days Offensive The Hundred Days Offensive (8 August to 11 November 1918) was a series of massive Allies of World War I, Allied offensives that ended the First World War. Beginning with the Battle of Amiens (1918), Battle of Amiens (8–12 August) on the Wester ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

was followed by reconstructions and a rapidly developing economy and population, abruptly reversed by the

1973 oil crisis The 1973 oil crisis or first oil crisis began in October 1973 when the members of the Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC), led by Saudi Arabia, proclaimed an oil embargo. The embargo was targeted at nations that had supp ...

. Cambrai today is a lively city and, despite the past destruction, maintains a rich monumental heritage. Cambrai is affirmed as the urban centre of

Cambrésis Cambrésis () is a former ''pagus'', county and prince-bishopric of the medieval Holy Roman Empire that was annexed to the Kingdom of France in 1679. It is now regarded as one of the "natural regions" of France, and roughly equivalent to the Arro ...

. Its economic life is strengthened by its position on the main local highway and river.

Geography

Location

The town of Cambrai is located in the south of the Nord Department, of which it is

chef-lieu An administrative center is a seat of regional administration or local government, or a county town, or the place where the central administration of a commune is located. In countries with French as administrative language (such as Belgium, Lux ...

of the

arrondissement An arrondissement (, , ) is any of various administrative divisions of France, Belgium, Haiti, certain other Francophone countries, as well as the Netherlands. Europe France The 101 French departments are divided into 342 ''arrondissements' ...

. It belongs to the dense network of the cities of the area which are separated by a few tens of kilometres:

Douai Douai (, , ,; pcd, Doï; nl, Dowaai; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord département in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe some from Lille and from Arras, D ...

is only ,

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

is ,

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

is and Saint-Quentin

as the crow flies __NOTOC__ The expression ''as the crow flies'' is an idiom for the most direct path between two points, rather similar to "in a beeline". This meaning is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel '' Oliv ...

. The regional capital of

is away. Cambrai is not very far from several European capitals:

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

is ,

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

is and

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

is . The city was born and developed on the right bank of the

river. Locally known as the Escaut, the river has its source in the department of

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345. Cambrai is located on

chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...

bedrock of the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

period, which forms the northern boundary of the

Paris Basin The Paris Basin is one of the major geological regions of France. It developed since the Triassic over remnant uplands of the Variscan orogeny (Hercynian orogeny). The sedimentary basin, no longer a single drainage basin, is a large sag in the cr ...

, between, to the east, the hills for

Thiérache The Thiérache () is a region of France and Belgium united by similar geography and architecture, including the presence of hedgerows, grassland, hilly terrain, scattered settlements, and traditionally-built stone or brick houses with stone dividi ...

and

Avesnois The arrondissement of Avesnes-sur-Helpe is an arrondissement of France in the Nord department in the Hauts-de-France region. It has 151 communes. Its population is 230,372 (2016), and its area is . Composition The communes of the arrondissement o ...

, the foothills of the , and northwest, the hills of

Artois Artois ( ; ; nl, Artesië; English adjective: ''Artesian'') is a region of northern France. Its territory covers an area of about 4,000 km2 and it has a population of about one million. Its principal cities are Arras (Dutch: ''Atrecht'') ...

. It is at a point which is relatively lower than these two regions, called the "Cambrai threshold" or the "Bapaume threshold", which facilitates the passage between the south and the north: Bapaume (Artois) is above sea level,

Avesnes-sur-Helpe Avesnes-sur-Helpe (; vls, Avenne aan de Helpe) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the Nord department. It is situated 14 km from the Belgian border, and 18 km south of Maubeuge, the near ...

(Avesnois) is at and Cambrai only . The Saint-Quentin canal, the

Canal du Nord The Canal du Nord (, literally ''Canal of the North'') is a long canal in northern France. The canal connects the Canal latéral à l'Oise at Pont-l'Évêque to the Sensée Canal at Arleux. The French government, in partnership with coal-min ...

, the A1, A2 and

A26 A26 or A-26 may refer to: Roads * List of A26 roads Transportation * Douglas A-26 Invader, a light attack bomber built by Douglas * Aero A.26, a Czech reconnaissance aircraft of the 1920s * Focke-Wulf A 26, a German Focke-Wulf aircraft * Blekinge- ...

autoroutes all borrow all this passage between the basin of the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

and the plains of the Nord department. The chalky subsoil allowed, as in many medieval cities, the digging of a network of cellars, tunnels and quarries under the city. The poor quality of the Cambrai chalk was reserved for use in the manufacture of lime or filling, as well as common constructions. For prestigious buildings, stone from the nearby villages of Noyelles-sur-Escaut, Rumilly or

Marcoing Marcoing () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. History During World War I, there was an alleged incident between a British soldier named Henry Tandey and Adolf Hitler in this area. Hitler was unarmed and appeared wounded, so T ...

was used.p.37 The city is bordered in its western part, as well as to the north and the south, by the alluvial zones of the Scheldt Valley.

Hydrography

Cambrai is built on the right bank of the

. 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. However, it was undeveloped and was crossed by numerous marshes. It was with the discovery of coal at

Anzin Anzin is a commune in the Nord department in northern France.Commune d'Anzin (59014)
INSEE ...

in 1734 that the Scheldt was expanded and declared navigable in 1780, from Cambrai to the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian S ...

.p.66 The Scheldt is today the

Canal de l'Escaut The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corresponding to ...

downstream of Cambrai. In addition, the river initially served as the boundary between the bishoprics of

Tournai Tournai or Tournay ( ; ; nl, Doornik ; pcd, Tornai; wa, Tornè ; la, Tornacum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It lies southwest of Brussels on the river Scheldt. Tournai is part of Euromet ...

on its left bank and

Cambrai Cambrai (, ; pcd, Kimbré; nl, Kamerijk), formerly Cambray and historically in English Camerick or Camericke, is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department and in the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, regio ...

on its right bank, from the 6th century.p.46 When the division of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

's Empire in 843, this border was retained to delimit the kingdoms of

Lothair I Lothair I or Lothar I (Dutch and Medieval Latin: ''Lotharius''; German: ''Lothar''; French: ''Lothaire''; Italian: ''Lotario'') (795 – 29 September 855) was emperor (817–855, co-ruling with his father until 840), and the governor of Bavar ...

and

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (french: Charles le Chauve; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as Charles II, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), king of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a ser ...

, making Cambrai a city of the

until 1677. The Scheldt was also indispensable to many economic activities, such as the tanning, milling, the manufacture of salt and soap,p.62 as well as for

retting Retting is a process employing the action of micro-organisms and moisture on plants to dissolve or rot away much of the cellular tissues and pectins surrounding bast-fibre bundles, and so facilitating separation of the fibre from the stem.rettin ...

linen Linen () is a textile made from the fibers of the flax plant. Linen is very strong, absorbent, and dries faster than cotton. Because of these properties, linen is comfortable to wear in hot weather and is valued for use in garments. It also ...

, the weaving of which was one of the main activities of the city.p.98 Finally, the river was used in the

and then by Vauban, for the defence of the city by the establishment of flood defensive areas. Despite its important role in the history of the city, the Scheldt is little integrated into the present urban landscape.

Climate

:Main article: ' Climate in this area has mild differences between highs and lows, and there is adequate rainfall year round. The

Köppen Climate Classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

subtype for this climate is " Cfb" (Marine West Coast Climate/

Oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ( ...

). However, the city is about from the nearest coast.

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Berck Berck (), sometimes referred to as Berck-sur-Mer (, literally ''Berck on Sea''), is a commune in the northern French department of Pas-de-Calais. It lies within the Marquenterre regional park, an ornithological nature reserve. Geography Situ ...

is .

Precipitation In meteorology, precipitation is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravitational pull from clouds. The main forms of precipitation include drizzle, rain, sleet, snow, ice pellets, graupel and hail. ...

is distributed year-round, with highs in the spring and autumn, with February being the driest month. Contrasting with the rainy image of the region, the total annual precipitation is relatively small with at Cambrai-Épinoy; identical to the Montsouris Paris station, which is at the same altitude, it is less than those of

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

at or

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative c ...

at . However, the number of days of rain (63 in Nice, 120 in Cambrai) confirms the oceanic character of the climate. The mean thermal amplitude between the winter and summer does not exceed 15 °C. Although again establishing a comparison with Paris, that Cambrai is 1.5 to 2 °C colder over all combined seasons. On average, there are 71 days of fog per year (Paris-Montsouris has 13) 15 days of storm (Paris-Montsouris has 19) and 20 days with snow (Paris-Montsouris has 15). If comparing the data of Cambrai and those of towns such as

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

, there are colder minimum temperatures and a warmer maximum in Cambrai, the difference being approximately 2 °C, as well as a larger number of freezing days and less heavy precipitation: It's described a "transitional" oceanic climate, with some continental influences. The temperature record in Cambrai is , which was established on 6 August 2003 (data collected since 1954 and record updated to 5 September 2013).

Ombrothermic diagram ImageSize = width:464 height:220 PlotArea = left:40 right:30 top:40 bottom:20 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical Colors = id:blue value:blue AlignBars = justify Period = from:0 till:80 ScaleMajor = increment:10 start:0 gridcolor:black start:0 PlotData = align:center mark:(line,black) width:31 bar:Jan color:blue from:start till:47.5 bar:Feb color:blue from:start till:39.7 bar:Mar color:blue from:start till:51 bar:Apr color:blue from:start till:46.2 bar:May color:blue from:start till:59.1 bar:Jun color:blue from:start till:66.3 bar:Jul color:blue from:start till:57.4 bar:Aug color:blue from:start till:52.4 bar:Sep color:blue from:start till:51.3 bar:Oct color:blue from:start till:58.1 bar:Nov color:blue from:start till:60.9 bar:Dec color:blue from:start till:52.1 LineData = layer:front points:(56,30)(89,33) color:red width:1 points:(89,33)(122,43) color:red width:1 points:(122,43)(155,54) color:red width:1 points:(155,54)(188,70) color:red width:1 points:(188,70)(222,81) color:red width:1 points:(222,81)(254,89) color:red width:1 points:(254,89)(287,89) color:red width:1 points:(287,89)(320,79) color:red width:1 points:(320,79)(353,64) color:red width:1 points:(353,64)(386,44) color:red width:1 points:(386,44)(419,33) color:red width:1 at:10 color:black width:0.5 at:20 width:0.5 at:30 width:0.5 at:40 width:0.5 at:50 width:0.5 at:60 width:0.5 from:0 till:80 atpos:435 width:0.5 TextData = pos:(16,190) fontsize:S text:"Precipitation" pos:(32,182) fontsize:XS text:"(mm)" pos:(390,190) fontsize:S text:"Temperature" pos:(418,181) fontsize:XS text:"(°C)" pos: (438,29) textcolor:red fontsize:S text: "0" pos: (438,49) text: "5" pos: (438,69) textcolor:red fontsize:S text: "10" pos: (438,89) text: "15" pos: (438,109) textcolor:red fontsize:S text: "20"

Routes of communication and transport

Road

Cambrai is located at the crossroads of two French autoroutes, the A2 from

Combles Combles () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography Combles is situated on the D20 road, some north-east of Amiens. History Combles was the operations centre for the battle of Bapaume during the ...

(junction with the A1 coming from Paris) to the Franco-Belgian border, opened in 1973, and the

from

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...

, opened in 1992. These autoroutes partly merge with the

European roads The international E-road network is a numbering system for roads in Europe developed by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE). The network is numbered from E1 up and its roads cross national borders. It also reaches Centr ...

of the E19 from

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

via

, for the A2, and the E17 from

Antwerp Antwerp (; nl, Antwerpen ; french: Anvers ; es, Amberes) is the largest city in Belgium by area at and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 520,504,

Beaune Beaune () is the wine capital of Burgundy in the Côte d'Or department in eastern France. It is located between Lyon and Dijon. Beaune is one of the key wine centers in France, and the center of Burgundy wine production and business. The annua ...

via

and

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

, for the A26. Cambrai and its region are served by four autoroute interchanges: The A2, exit 14 (Cambrai) from

and exit 15 (

Bouchain Bouchain (; vls, Boesem) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It lies halfway between Cambrai and Valenciennes. Bouchain, seat of the early medieval County of Ostrevent, was taken by Arnulf I, Count of Flanders, in the 10th ...

) from

, and on the A26 the exits 8 (

Marquion Marquion () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France. Geography Marquion is a farming and light industrial village situated southwest of Arras, at the junction of the D939 and the D15 roads. Junction 8 ...

) from

and 9 (

Masnières Masnières () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry History Masnières figured into the 1917 Battle of Cambrai during which time it was briefly captured by the British on the first day of the battle, November 20, an ...

) from

. Cambrai is also at the crossroads of the

Route nationale 30 The Route nationale 30 is a highway in Picardy and Nord-Pas-de-Calais, northern France. It connects the town of Bapaume to with Valenciennes. Before 1973, The RN 30 was connecting Rouen to La Capelle. The road has been renamed N 31 between R ...

Bapaume Bapaume (original Dutch name Batpalmen) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. The inhabitants of this commune are known as ''Bapalmois'' or ''Bapalmoises''. Geography Bapaume is a farmi ...

Quiévrain Quiévrain (; pcd, Kievrin) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. On 1 January 2006, the municipality had 6,559 inhabitants. The total area is 21.22 km2, giving a population density of 309 inhabitants p ...

(Franco-Belgian border),

Route nationale 43 Route or routes may refer to: * Route (gridiron football), a path run by a wide receiver * route (command), a program used to configure the routing table * Route, County Antrim, an area in Northern Ireland * ''The Route'', a 2013 Ugandan film * Ro ...

Sainte-Ruffine Sainte-Ruffine (; german: Sankt Ruffin, (1940–1944) ''Ruffingen'') is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. See also * Communes of the Moselle department The following is a list of the 725 communes of th ...

(

Metz Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand E ...

) to

, of Cambrai to Vitry (these last three have since 2006 been downgraded to and therefore consequently renamed to D6xx), and D939 (former ) of Cambrai to

. To facilitate access to the east of the

from the A2 and A26 autoroutes, to alleviate traffic in the crossing of the city and to serve the future Niergnies business zone, a southern bypass was the subject of a declaration of public utility (DPU) on 22 April 1999. Its route has been repeatedly modified and challenged, because it crosses the urban ecological park of the in

Proville Proville () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. The communes cooperate in ...

, the only public natural green space of the Cambrésis. The bypass is in service since 17 September 2010. A bypass to the north is also part of the program of major departmental projects, which was required to have been initiated by 2011.

Railway

Cambrai railway station is connected by direct trains (

TER Ter or TER may refer to: Places * River Ter, in Essex, England * Ter (river), in Catalonia * Ter (department), a region in France * Torre (river), (Slovene: ''Ter''), a river in Italy * Ter, Ljubno, a settlement in the Municipality of Ljubno ob S ...

) to

, Saint-Quentin,

. The link to Douai and Lille has improved after the electrification of the single-track in 1993, for the commissioning of joining

to Cambrai by

TGV The TGV (french: Train à Grande Vitesse, "high-speed train"; previously french: TurboTrain à Grande Vitesse, label=none) is France's intercity high-speed rail service, operated by SNCF. SNCF worked on a high-speed rail network from 1966 to 19 ...

via Douai, which was subsequently cancelled. Direct connections on weekdays are fifteen trains per day, with a journey time of about 30 minutes between Douai and Cambrai; eight trains, with a journey time often less than an hour, to

Lille-Flandres station Lille-Flandres station ( French: ''Gare de Lille-Flandres'', Dutch: ''Rijsel Vlaanderen'') is the main railway station of Lille, capital of French Flanders. It is a terminus for SNCF Intercity and regional trains. It opened in 1842 as the ''Gare d ...

; ten trains, with a time of little more than 40 minutes on average to Valenciennes and a dozen trains, with a journey time of around 50 minutes, to Saint-Quentin. Cambrai is directly connected by rail to any European city, but links to Paris (

Gare du Nord The Gare du Nord (; English: ''station of the North'' or ''Northern Station''), officially Paris-Nord, is one of the six large mainline railway station termini in Paris, France. The station accommodates the trains that run between the capital ...

) are mediocre if compared to those of the neighbouring cities. Valenciennes, Douai and Arras are connected to Paris by TGV several times per day. Saint-Quentin is connected by TER or

Intercités Intercités (before September 2009: ''Corail Intercités'') is a brand name used by France’s national railway company, SNCF, to denote non high speed services on the 'classic' network in France. SNCF established the Intercités brand in January ...

trains with less than two hours travel time. Cambrai was connected to Paris in 2010 by a single direct Intercités service of two hours, with a little-suited schedule for professional use. The times of other trains via Douai or Saint-Quentin vary between two and four and a half hours.

=Railway history

As early as 1833 the municipal council sought passage of a railway line through Cambrai. However, a route through Arras and Douai, to Lille, with a branch to Valenciennes, was preferred in 1845. It remained, therefore, to connect Cambrai to this line, which was done in 1878 by a single, winding line between Cambrai and Douai. Meanwhile, Cambrai had been linked, in 1858, to the Paris-Brussels line by a branch line from

Busigny Busigny () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Busigny station has rail connections to Douai, Paris, Lille, Maubeuge and Saint-Quentin. Population Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a li ...

and joining Somain, near Douai.p.150 Other railway lines of local interest saw development in the 19th century, particularly in 1880 the Société des Chemin de fer du Cambrésis which operated three routes in the Cambrésis between Cambrai, Caudry, Saint-Quentin, Le Cateau and Denain. An agricultural use of Cambrai to Marquion, now off line, was also open in 1898. Cambrai railway station was also the terminus of a standard gauge secondary route of linking

and

Boisleux-au-Mont Boisleux-au-Mont () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France. Geography A farming village located 6 miles (10 km) south of Arras at the junction of the D35 and D36 roads. Population ...

=Railway projects

= The regional transport scheme evokes three axes or projects concerning Cambrai: Improving the Douai-Cambrai connections, the construction of a new railway line between Cambrai and

, in conjunction with the large gauge Seine-North Europe canal project and the establishment of a business zone of Marquion, as well as "searching for a link from

Orchies Orchies (; nl, Oorschie) is a commune in the department of Nord in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. Orchies is the biggest town of the Pévèle. It is especially known for its ''Musée de la chicorée'', the museum of chicory. ...

towards Cambrai".

Waterways

Cambrai is one of the seven territorial subdivisions of the regional management of Nord-Pas-de-Calais of navigable waterways in France. The city is located at the junction of the Saint-Quentin canal to the Oise and Paris and the

, which leads to the Dunkerque-Escaut canal. Commercial traffic on these canals is low, of the order of 250,000 tonnes upstream of Cambrai and 420,000 tonnes downstream. A

marina A marina (from Spanish , Portuguese and Italian : ''marina'', "coast" or "shore") is a dock or basin with moorings and supplies for yachts and small boats. A marina differs from a port in that a marina does not handle large passenger ships o ...

is located at the junction of the two canals, at Cambrai-Cantimpré.

=Waterways history

= The

(

canal), between Cambrai and

, was opened to navigation in 1780. Moreover, a river link between Paris and the Nord department had been projected as early as the time of Mazarin and Colbert. The construction of the Saint-Quentin canal, between

Chauny Chauny () is a Communes of France, commune in the Aisne Departments of France, department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History There has been a settlement on the site, more or less continuously, since at least the Carolingian era. Know ...

on the

Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 ...

and Cambrai, was taken up in 1802 on the order of

Napoleon I Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

and completed in 1810, after the drilling of the

Riqueval Tunnel The Riqueval Tunnel is a -long tunnel on the St Quentin Canal, close to the commune of Bellicourt Bellicourt () is a commune in the department of Aisne in Hauts-de-France in northern France. It lies on the N44 road between Cambrai and Sai ...

. The canal and tunnel were opened with great pomp on 28 April 1810 by the Emperor and Empress Marie-Louise. The Saint-Quentin canal has experienced heavy traffic, but since 1966, the date of the opening of the

, it has lost much of its importance.

=Waterways projects

= A wide-gauge river link project, called Seine-Escaut Link project is part of the 30 priority projects of the future

trans-European transport network The Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) is a planned network of roads, railways, airports and water infrastructure in the European Union. The TEN-T network is part of a wider system of Trans-European Networks (TENs), including a telecommunic ...

. The route of this project is through

, west of Cambrai. A platform of activities is planned therein. The commissioning of the canal could take place around 2015.

Airports

Cambrai is in close proximity to two airfields: ''Cambrai-Epinoy'', to the north-west, whose use was booked at the until its closure in 2012, and '' Cambrai Niergnies'', to the southeast, opened to recreational aviation. Within an approximate radius of 1 hr 30 mins by road are five major airports: Lille-Lesquin at , Brussels South Charleroi at , Brussels National at , Paris Beauvais-Tillé at and Paris Charles-de-Gaulle at .

Urban transport

LL 67 - CAMBRAI - La Grand'Place - Station des Tramways

By 1897, that is, upon completion of the demolition of the fortifications, the city had considered the construction of electric

tram A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...

lines. It was a very modern solution for the time, since electric traction only appeared in 1881 and the development of this mode of transport didn't truly occur until 1895 in Paris and the Paris region. In 1903, the network of the was opened, p.243 and with five lines. After World War I, the uneconomic network was not recommissioned.p.59 Since 1933 the agglomeration of Cambrai has been served by a , five urban routes were operating in 2010, run by CFC (Railways of Cambrésis): *A: Luxembourg – Cambrai stations –

Escaudœuvres Escaudœuvres () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. History Escaudœuvres is famous for being the location of the sugar factory of the Sucrerie centrale de Cambrai. At the time of its construction, this was one of the b ...

*B:

Neuville-Saint-Rémy Neuville-Saint-Rémy () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Population Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. T ...

– Cambrai stations – ZAC Cambrai-South *C: Les Martigues-Pyrénées – Cambrai stations –

Raillencourt-Sainte-Olle Raillencourt-Sainte-Olle () is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of the French Republic. The commune ...

*D: Cambrai stations – Raillencourt-Sainte-Olle *E: ZAC Cambrai-South – Cambrai stations Since 7 January 2013, the agglomeration community of Cambrai has implemented a free shuttle which serves seventeen stops around the city. In 2008, the "Urban Transport Perimeter" (PTU) of Cambrai which, with 59,326 inhabitants, is the smallest of the twelve PTU of the

region had completed about per year, corresponding to 740,000 journeys. The agglomeration community of Cambrai is the organising authority of urban transport. However, while it has twenty-three communes, only six were served by urban transport in 2006. For other towns and cities, the urban community has delegated jurisdiction to the department. In a relatively sparsely populated agglomeration with little extensive public transport, it cannot easily compete with the automobile. Nevertheless, the agglomeration community of Cambrai reflects on the future of urban transport from a perspective of

sustainable development Sustainable development is an organizing principle for meeting human development goals while also sustaining the ability of natural systems to provide the natural resources and ecosystem services on which the economy and society depend. The des ...

, 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. The realisation of the new multimodal transport hub in the quarter of the railway station of Cambrai is part of this policy.

Urbanism

Urban morphology

Origins

The old centre of Cambrai was established on a small rise overlooking, from the right bank, the marshy area of the

Valley. Indications suggest that a

castrum In the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Roman Republic, Republican period of ancient Rome. As a po ...

was built at this location, although the scarcity of excavations at Cambrai in has provided no archaeological evidence.p.13p.10 With its area of , the very modest castrum would've been much smaller than those of

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

at and

at , for example.

Development

Faubourg "Faubourg" () is an ancient French term historically equivalent to " fore-town" (now often termed suburb or ). The earliest form is , derived from Latin , 'out of', and Vulgar Latin (originally Germanic) , 'town' or 'fortress'. Traditionally, th ...

s were developed, at the time of the

prosperity, to the north and west of the primitive castrum, around the churches of Saint-Vaast and Saint-Aubert. The looting of the city by the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

in December 880 convinced the Bishop Dodilon to strengthen and expand fortifications: The new enclosure he built tripled the size of the city.pp.23–25 To the southeast, on a hillock called Mont-des-Bœufs, Bishop

Gaugericus Saint Gaugericus, in French language, French Saint Géry (also known as Gorik, Gau; in Walloon language, Walloon, Djèri) ( 550 – August 11, 619) was a bishop of Cambrai, France. Biography He was born to Roman Empire, Roman parents, Gaude ...

had founded an abbey in 595, originally dedicated to Saint Médard and Saint Loup, then, after the death of the founder, Gaugericus himself. This abbey was certainly also protected by an enclosure. The space which separated these two urban cores hosted markets and fairs.p.25 Cambrai - Cameracvm vulgo Cambray - Kamerijk (Atlas van Loon)

Cambrai - Cameracvm vulgo Cambray - Kamerijk (Atlas van Loon)

These two quarters were joined in the 11th century when Bishop

Gérard I Gérard ( French: ) is a French masculine given name and surname of Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constit ...

built the churches of Saint Nicolas and the Saint Sepulchre, southeast of the city and east of Mont-des-Bœufs. The town hall, the market, butcher and various bodies of craftsmen settled in this new urban space that Bishop Lietbert had protected by an earth rampart. Even today the ''Grand-place'', the covered market, and a few names of streets (the ''Rue de Liniers'', ''Rue des Rôtisseurs'', ''Rue des Chaudronniers'' and ''Rue des Cordiers'') recall this stage of urban development.p.37-38 The Bishop Gérard II later replaced the earth rampart with a stone wall with towers, gates and ditches and encompassed the entire built space. Therefore Cambrai had reached the perimeter it would retain until the 19th century: While other cities in the region such as

Bruges Bruges ( , nl, Brugge ) is the capital and largest City status in Belgium, city of the Provinces of Belgium, province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium, in the northwest of the country, and the sixth-largest city of the countr ...

Ghent Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...

expanded their enclosures until the 14th century, that of Cambrai was redesigned and reinforced, but without affecting the outline.p.61-62p.355 The outline of this wall from the 11th century is still visible in the current boulevards. It was probably under the episcopates of the bishops Gérard I, Liebert and Gérard II, in the 11th century, that was built the , a fortress located on the edge of the Scheldt to the northwest of the city. In the 13th century, the Bishop Nicolas III de Fontaines ordered work to put it "on a good foot of defence". This castle, owned by the bishop-counts, was intended as much to monitor the city as to ensure the defence. Its military role ended in the 16th century, when

Charles V Charles V may refer to: * Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor (1500–1558) * Charles V of Naples (1661–1700), better known as Charles II of Spain * Charles V of France (1338–1380), called the Wise * Charles V, Duke of Lorraine (1643–1690) * Infan ...

grabbed the city and ordered the construction, on Mont-des-Bœufs northeast of the town, of a citadel for which 800 houses were demolished along with the Abbey of Saint Gaugericus.p.106 The Château de Selles was then used as a prison.

Dismantling of fortifications

In the 19th century, the city was cramped within its fortified walls, which limited its development and prohibited any urban planning. The dismantling of the fortifications, requested by petition as early as 1862, was finally accepted by the State after a further 30 years.p.236-240. The work lasted 6 years and transformed the appearance of the city by the construction of a belt of wide

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway. Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls. In American usage, boulevards may ...

s, the sale of new land to build, connecting the city to its suburbs and the establishment of public gardens.

Drainage work

Cambrai is built on the edge of the wide marshy area of the Scheldt Valley encircling the western part of the city, the 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 also used for the defence of the city. The suburb of Cantimpré, linking the ancient heart to the Scheldt below to the west, had raised several metres.p.61 The two arms of the Scheldt (Escaut), the Escautins, are separated before entering the medieval town: The Escauette and the Clicotiau, which bathed the walls of the old urban core. These streams were probably due to man's hand because they do not correspond to natural landforms. However, it is unknown whether their origin dates back to the Roman era or is from a later time. Throughout the

, and again in modern times, the Scheldt and its arms required constant work: Repair of levees, enhancement of pavement, straightening of the bed, as well as the digging of ditches to regulate the course of the river, prevent floods and ensure as far as possible a steady water level, on which the mills and tanneries depended. Despite these works, floods were frequent.p.63 The absorption of rainwater and household water descending from the upper areas of the city was also a problem. Bouly spoke in 1842, in his ''History of Cambrai and le Cambrésis'', of "fast torrents tormwaterformed today by rolling up the Scheldt". In the Middle Ages the "flow of el kayère" (or "flow of the chair"),So named because of the neighboring infamy chair close to the current ''Grand-Place'', was dug a reservoir for "water courses of the falling waters of the sky", i.e. to control the flow of rainwater. In the 19th century aqueducts were built to carry these waters, and the streets were paved. Furthermore, in 1926 a drainage sewer was built at ''Rue Blériot''. The draining of the wetlands that surround the town began in 1804. The work ended in 1951 with the drying of the small stream of Saint Benoît near the Liberty Stadium, itself built on this wetland which dominated the ancient city walls, and in 1953 with the covering of the Clicotiau.

The 20th century

The destruction caused by

necessitated a reconstruction of the centre. The municipality organised a competition, which was won by . His project, inspired with both a regionalist taste and the Hausmannian style, completely redesigned the layout of roads from the

. It was rebuilt as a modern city. The architect

Louis Marie Cordonnier Louis Marie Cordonnier (July 7, 1854, Haubourdin, Nord – 1940) was a French architect, born in Haubourdin and associated principally with Lille and the French Flanders region. Biography Son of the architect Jean-Baptiste Cordonnier (182 ...

described the prospects to elected representatives: The Leprince-Ringuet plan was only partially achieved, but the streets were removed, others expanded, and new paths were created as the ''Avenue de la Victoire'' venue of Victory Further destruction due to the

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called ...

bombing of April–August 1944 again required a reconstruction. It was especially, in the years following

, to rehouse the victims and to cope with the expanding population. Priority was given to detached houses, and new quarters appeared, such as the "Martin–Martine" subdivision south-east of the city. In the 1980s the municipality worked to restore and develop the ancient heritage.

Housing

Cambrai had 18,112 housing units in 2017, of which 15,925 were occupied as primary residences. The proportion of individual housing is 54.2%.

Primary residence A person's primary residence, or main residence is the dwelling where they usually live, typically a house or an apartment. A person can only have one ''primary'' residence at any given time, though they may share the residence with other people. A ...

s dominate with 87.9%, and one can especially note the very low proportion of secondary residences in Cambrai: 1.0%. Lotissement Martin Martine années 1970

The proportion of house owners, at 44.3%, is lower than in the rest of the country (57.5%). The tenants are much more numerous, 54.1% in Cambrai, against little more than 40% in France. Among rental housing, the proportion of

HLM An habitation à loyer modéré (HLM, , ), is a form of low-income housing in France, Algeria, Senegal, and Quebec. It may be public or private, with rent subsidies. HLMs constitute 16% of all housing in France. The age of the accommodation in Cambrai is distinguished from both regional and national averages. Housing is older, on average, in Cambrai than in the rest of the country. The proportion of (pre-1945) "old" housing, is 33.5%, which is significantly higher than the French average of 22.2%. Meanwhile, dwellings built between 1946 and 1970 account for 37.0% of the total in Cambrai, significantly above the 21.5% of the country. This proportion can probably be explained by the necessary reconstruction which followed the destruction of

, as well as programmes of Maison Familiale group homes in the 1960s and 1970s. More recent housing is relatively less in the city than in the rest of France or even in the region: 7.3% of accommodation in Cambrai was built between 1991 and 2005, compared with 16.1% in France; 5.2% have been built since 2006, compared with 10.9% in France. This is probably a consequence of the less dynamic economy and population of the city in recent years. The agglomeration community seeks to improve the quality of the accommodation by various means: Encourage rehabilitation of vacant properties, expand available accommodation which is suitable for elderly or handicapped people, increase the supply of rentals and promote the construction of more energy-efficient housing. The creation of 960 new social houses was provided over six years, from 2008 to 2014. The signed in 2007 with the city and the urban community was the first of the Nord department. Five quarters, not classified as "sensitive urban areas", are concerned: The old centre where old habitat remains, the ''l'Amérique'' and ''La Forêt'' estates, consisting primarily of multi-family housing, and the ''d'Esnes'' and ''de Guise'' estates dominated by single-family housing.

Development projects

In 2010, the projects of the municipality include: *The "docks and warehouses," Brownfield site of at the edge of the Saint-Quentin canal, the assignment of which has not yet been determined but which should essentially be devoted to recreation. *The rehabilitation of the centre of the Martin–Martine quarter, and in particular the transformation of the green corridor which was originally reserved for an "urban expressway", never realised. *The layout of the ''Place du 9-Octobre'' around the Church of Saint-Géry aint Gaugericus*The redevelopment of the station quarter in the "exchange hub": A study on the development of the multimodal trade hub of Cambrai was launched in 2007 by the agglomeration community of Cambrai in partnership with the city, the Northern Department and the region, with purpose the station District redevelopment and improvement of intermodality. *The relocation of the library to new premises. *The "modernisation" of the public garden. On the other hand, the revolves around eight themes: "Cambrai, an urban centre in the countryside", "Preserve and enhance the natural, rural and agricultural space", "Reclaim and restructure", "Render Cambrai fully in its ''urbanity''", "Build upon the city of history", "Save and protect the environment, improve the quality of the living environment", "Ensuring economic and sustainable development", and also "Mastering travel or promoting changes in modes of transport".

Toponymy

The location is attested as ''Camaracum'' in the 4th century in the

Peutinger Table ' (Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the ''cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire. The map is a 13th-cen ...

and ''Cameracum'' (no date). It recognises the Gallo-Roman suffix of Celtic origin "place of", "property of", preceded by an element not identified with certainty.

Albert Dauzat Albert Dauzat (; 4 July 1877 – 31 October 1955) was a French linguist specializing in toponymy and onomastics. Dauzat, a student of Jules Gilliéron, was a director of studies at the École des hautes études. Works * ''L'argot des poilus; di ...

and

Charles Rostaing Charles Rostaing (9 October 1904 – 24 April 1999) was a French linguist who specialised in toponymy.Obituar ...

offered the Gallo-Roman type name of a person called Camarus. This is also found in the anthroponym of

Chambray Chambray () is a commune in the Eure department of northern France, 13 km northeast of Évreux on the north bank of the river Eure. The Château de Chambray, in the north of the commune, is the ancestral home of the Marquis de Venevelles d'E ...

(Eure) (''Cambracus'' 1011, ''Cameragus'' to 1025). Variants ''Cambarius'' and ''Camarius'' would also explain Cambayrac, Chambry in Aine and

the same The Same was a punk band from Sundsvall. Members were among others Magnus Holmén, Per Kraft, Peter Byström and Tomas Broman. Their most popular song was "Kuken i styret". This song also resulted in that the P3 radio show Ny våg was convicted ...

in Seine-et-Marne,

Chamery Chamery () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. See also *Communes of the Marne department *Montagne de Reims Regional Natural Park Montagne de Reims Regional Natural Park (French: ''Parc naturel régional de la Montag ...

, Chémery, etc. François de Beaurepaire notes that it may also be a pre-Latin ''camar'' or ''cambar'' theme. However,

Xavier Delamarre Xavier Delamarre (; born 5 June 1954) is a French linguist, lexicographer, and diplomat. He is regarded as one of the world's foremost authorities on the Gaulish language. Since 2019, he has been an associate researcher for the CNRS- PSL AOrOc l ...

cited the personal name ''Cambarius'', which he considers as based on the Gallic word ''cambo-'' "curve" (cf. old Irish ''camb'', ''camm'' "curved", "bent" or "twisted"). ''Camarus'' would be a variant of this Gallic nickname meaning "that which is curved". The Cambrai shape is Normanno-Picard with a hard "C", characteristic of the north of the

Joret line The Joret line (french: ligne Joret; Norman: ''lène Joret'') is an isogloss used in the linguistics of the . Dialects north and west of the line have preserved Vulgar Latin and before ; dialects south and east of the line have palatalized and ...

and therefore corresponds to the form of

Francien Francien is a 19th-century term in linguistics that was applied to the French dialect that was spoken in the Île-de-France region (with Paris at its centre) before the establishment of the French language as a standard language."Ce terme est un ...

type Chambray. In addition, the name of the town was written ''Cambray'' until the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

. It is known under the name of ''Kamerijk'' in

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

and formerly ''Kamerich'' in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

and ''Camberick/Cambrick'' in

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

History

Antiquity

Little is known with certainty of the beginnings of Cambrai. ''Camaracum'' or ''Camaraco'', as it was known to the Romans, is mentioned for the first time on the

Peutinger table ' (Latin for "The Peutinger Map"), also referred to as Peutinger's Tabula or Peutinger Table, is an illustrated ' (ancient Roman road map) showing the layout of the ''cursus publicus'', the road network of the Roman Empire. The map is a 13th-cen ...

in the middle of the 4th century. It became the main town of the Roman province of the

, whose first Roman capital had been at ''Bagacum'', present-day

. In the middle of the 4th-century,

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

raids from the north threatened Bavay and led the Romans to build forts along the Cologne to Bavay to Cambrai road, and thence to Boulogne. Cambrai thus occupied an important strategic position. In the early 5th century the town had become the administrative centre of the Nervii in replacement of Bavay which was probably too exposed to the Franks' raids and perhaps too damaged.

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

arrived in the region at about the same time. A bishop of the Nervii by the name of ''Superior'' is mentioned in the middle of the 4th century, but nothing else is known about him. In 430 the

Salian Franks The Salian Franks, also called the Salians (Latin: ''Salii''; Greek: Σάλιοι, ''Salioi''), were a northwestern subgroup of the early Franks who appear in the historical record in the fourth and fifth centuries. They lived west of the Lowe ...

under the command of

Clodio Chlodio (probably died after 450), also Clodio, Clodius, Clodion, Cloio or Chlogio, was a Frankish king who attacked and then apparently ruled Roman-inhabited lands around Cambrai and Tournai, near the modern border of Belgium and France. He is k ...

the Long-Haired took the town. In 509 Clovis undertook to unify the Frankish kingdomsp.12-14 by getting rid of his relatives. One of them was Ragnachar, who ruled over a small kingdom from Cambrai.

Middle Ages

Cambrai began to grow from a rural market into a real city during the

times, a long period of peace when the bishoprics of Arras and Cambrai were first unified (probably owing to the small number of clerics left at the time) and were later transferred to Cambrai, an administrative centre for the region. Successive bishops, including

(in French Géry), founded abbeys and churches to host relics, which contributed powerfully to giving Cambrai both the appearance and functions of a city.p.16 Traité de Verdun 843

When the

Treaty of Verdun The Treaty of Verdun (), agreed in , divided the Francia, Frankish Empire into three kingdoms among the surviving sons of the emperor Louis the Pious, Louis I, the son and successor of Charlemagne. The treaty was concluded following almost three ...

in 843 split

's empire into three parts, the county of Cambrai fell into

Lothaire Lothaire is French masculine given name that is a modern form of the Germanic Chlothar (which is a blended form of Hlūdaz and Harjaz). People with this name include: Surname * Hubert Lothaire (1865 – 1929), Belgian military officer Given n ...

's kingdom. However, upon the death of

Lothair II Lothair II (835 – 8 August 869) was the king of Lotharingia from 855 until his death. He was the second son of Emperor Lothair I and Ermengarde of Tours. He was married to Teutberga (died 875), daughter of Boso the Elder. Reign For political ...

, who had no heir, king

tried to gain control of his kingdom by having himself sacred at

. Cambrai thus reverted, but only briefly, to the Western Frankish Realm. In 870 the town was destroyed by the Normans. By 925

Henry the Fowler Henry the Fowler (german: Heinrich der Vogler or '; la, Henricus Auceps) (c. 876 – 2 July 936) was the Duke of Saxony from 912 and the King of East Francia from 919 until his death in 936. As the first non-Frankish king of East Francia, he ...

had regained control of Lothair's former domains. Cambrai henceforth belonged to the

, in an uncomfortable position on the border with France, until it was annexed by

eight centuries later after being captured by

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

in 1677.

In the Middle Ages the region around Cambrai, called Cambrésis, was a county. Rivalries between the count, who ruled the city and county, and the bishop, ceased when in 948

Otto I Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Francia, East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the olde ...

granted the

bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

with temporal powers over the city.p.29-30 In 1007, Emperor Henry II extended the bishop's temporal power to the territory surrounding Cambrai. The bishops then had both spiritual and temporal powers. This made Cambrai and Cambrésis a church principality, much like

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

, an independent state which was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The spiritual power of the bishop was exercised over a vast diocese, which stretched on the right bank of the Scheldt to

Mons Mons (; German and nl, Bergen, ; Walloon and pcd, Mont) is a city and municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the province of Hainaut, Belgium. Mons was made into a fortified city by Count Baldwin IV of Hainaut in the 12th century. T ...

, Brussels and Antwerp. In 953, the

Magyars Hungarians, also known as Magyars ( ; hu, magyarok ), are a nation and ethnic group native to Hungary () and historical Hungarian lands who share a common culture, history, ancestry, and language. The Hungarian language belongs to the Uralic ...

besieged Cambrai, which resisted all their attacks. In 958 one of the first

communal Communal may refer to: *A commune or also intentional community * Communalism (Bookchin) * Communalism (South Asia), the South Asian sectarian ideologies *Relating to an administrative division called comune * Sociality in animals *Community owne ...

uprisings in Europe occurred in Cambrai. The inhabitants rebelled against Bishop Bérenger's power and abuses. The rebellion was severely repressed, but the discontent flared up again in the 10th and 11th centuries. Between 1077 and 1215, the burghers had a charter franchise on at least four occasions. Each time, these were eventually withdrawn by the combined efforts of the bishops and emperors. In 1227, following another period of unrest, the burghers of Cambrai finally had to give up their charters and accept the bishop's authority. However, the ''Loi Godefroid'' promulgated by the bishop, in fact or in law, left the people a number of freedoms won in the management of communal affairs. Cambrai is also known for its Irish

homily A homily (from Greek ὁμιλία, ''homilía'') is a commentary that follows a reading of scripture, giving the "public explanation of a sacred doctrine" or text. The works of Origen and John Chrysostom (known as Paschal Homily) are considered ex ...

Economic activity

In the Middle Ages the city grew richer and larger thanks to its weaving industry which produced woollen cloth, linen and

cambric Cambric or batiste, is a fine dense cloth. It is a lightweight plain-weave fabric, originally from the commune of Cambrai (in present-day northern France), woven greige (neither bleached nor dyed), then bleached, piece-dyed, and often gl ...

. Cambrai, and in particular the drapery, experienced an economic decline from the 15th century. Cambrai then belonged to a commercial

hansa Hansa may refer to: Places *Hanseatic League, a 13th–17th century alliance of European trading cities *Hansa (shopping centre), in Turku, Finland *Hansa-Park, a German attraction park *480 Hansa, a main-belt asteroid, a minor planet orbiting th ...

of seventeen low country cities whose aim was to develop trade with the fairs in

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

and

. By the 11th century the city walls had reached the circumference they would keep until the 19th century.

Music history

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

cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

there, a musical center until the 17th century, had one of the most active musical establishments in the Low Countries; many composers of the

Burgundian School The Burgundian School was a group of composers active in the 15th century in what is now northern and eastern France, Belgium, and the Netherlands, centered on the court of the Dukes of Burgundy. The school inaugurated the music of Burgundy. The ...

either grew up and learned their craft there, or returned to teach. In 1428 Philippe de Luxembourg claimed that the cathedral was the finest in all of Christianity, for the fineness of its singing, its light, and the sweetness of its bells.

Guillaume Dufay Guillaume Du Fay ( , ; also Dufay, Du Fayt; 5 August 1397(?) – 27 November 1474) was a French composer and music theorist of the early Renaissance. Considered the leading European composer of his time, his music was widely performed and repr ...

, the most famous European musician of the 15th century, studied at the cathedral from 1409 to 1412 under Nicolas Malin and Richard Loqueville, and returned in 1439 after spending many years in Italy. Cambrai cathedral had other famous composers in the later 15th century:

Johannes Tinctoris Jehan le Taintenier or Jean Teinturier (Latinised as Johannes Tinctoris; also Jean de Vaerwere; – 1511) was a Renaissance music theorist and composer from the Low Countries. Up to his time, he is perhaps the most significant European writer ...

and Ockeghem went to Cambrai to study with Dufay.p.93-94. Other composers included

Nicolas Grenon Nicolas Grenon ( – October 17, 1456) was a French composer of the early Renaissance. He wrote in all the prevailing musical forms of the time, and was a rare case of a long-lived composer who learned his craft in the late 14th century but primari ...

Alexander Agricola Alexander Agricola (; born Alexander Ackerman; – 15 August 1506) was a Netherlandish composer of the Renaissance writing in the Franco-Flemish style. A prominent member of the ''Grande chapelle'', the Habsburg musical establishment, he wa ...

, and

Jacob Obrecht Jacob Obrecht (also Hobrecht; 1457/8

. In the 16th century,

Philippe de Monte Philippe de Monte (1521 – 4 July 1603), sometimes known as Philippus de Monte, was a Flemish composer of the late Renaissance active all over Europe. He was a member of the 3rd generation madrigalists and wrote more madrigals than any other comp ...

Johannes Lupi Jean Leleu, most commonly known by the latinized version of his name, Johannes Lupi (c. 1506 – December 20, 1539), was a Franco-Flemish composer of the Renaissance. A representative of the generation after Josquin, he was a minor but skilled ...

, and

Jacobus de Kerle Jacobus de Kerle (Ypres 1531/1532 - Prague 7 January 1591) was a Flemish composer and organist of the late Renaissance. Life De Kerle was trained at the monastery of St. Martin in Ypres, and held positions as a singer in Cambrai and choirmaster in ...

all worked there.

Hundred Years' War

Even though the bishop tried to preserve the independence of his small state of Cambrésis, the task was not easy, wedged as the county was between its more powerful neighbours the counts of

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

, of Hainaut and the kings of

, especially during the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...

. In 1339, in the early stages of the war, the English king

Edward III Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring r ...

laid siege to the city but eventually had to withdraw. By the 14th century the county was surrounded on all parts by

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

's possessions and John of Burgundy, an illegitimate son of

John the Fearless John I (french: Jean sans Peur; nl, Jan zonder Vrees; 28 May 137110 September 1419) was a scion of the French royal family who ruled the Burgundian State from 1404 until his death in 1419. He played a key role in French national affairs during ...

, was made bishop. However, what looked like an impending annexation of Cambrésis to the states of Burgundy was made impossible by the sudden death of

Charles the Bold Charles I (Charles Martin; german: Karl Martin; nl, Karel Maarten; 10 November 1433 – 5 January 1477), nicknamed the Bold (German: ''der Kühne''; Dutch: ''de Stoute''; french: le Téméraire), was Duke of Burgundy from 1467 to 1477. ...

in 1477.

Louis XI Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revol ...

immediately seized the opportunity to take control of Cambrai, but left the city a year later.

The legend of Martin and Martine

Martin and Martine are two legendary characters who have come to represent the city which they are said to have saved. There are different versions of the story. 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 The term Moor, derived from the ancient Mauri, is an exonym first used by Christian Europeans to designate the Muslim inhabitants of the Maghreb, the Iberian Peninsula, Sicily and Malta during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a distinct or se ...

descent established in Cambrai, was among the burghers who left the city to fight the lord of Thun-Lévêque, who was then reputed to ransom the population around the city and generally to afflict the region. Martin, armed only with his heavy iron hammer, soon came face to face with the enemy. He 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. Dazed and blinded, the lord of Thun quickly surrendered. Today the automatons of Martin and Martine, standing at the top of the town hall, strike the hours with a hammer as a reminder of that mighty blow.

Early Modern era

As the economic centre of northern Europe moved away from

, the area became poorer, with an associated period of cultural decline. However the city's neutrality and its position between the possessions of the

Habsburg Empire The Habsburg monarchy (german: Habsburgermonarchie, ), also known as the Danubian monarchy (german: Donaumonarchie, ), or Habsburg Empire (german: Habsburgerreich, ), was the collection of empires, kingdoms, duchies, counties and other polities ...

and

made it the venue of several international negotiations, including the

League of Cambrai League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

, an alliance engineered in 1508 by

Pope Julius II Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or th ...

against the

Republic of Venice The Republic of Venice ( vec, Repùblega de Venèsia) or Venetian Republic ( vec, Repùblega Vèneta, links=no), traditionally known as La Serenissima ( en, Most Serene Republic of Venice, italics=yes; vec, Serenìsima Repùblega de Venèsia, ...

, concluding in the . The alliance collapsed in 1510 when the Pope allied with Venice against his former ally

. The conflict is also referred to as the

War of the League of Cambrai The War of the League of Cambrai, sometimes known as the War of the Holy League and several other names, was fought from February 1508 to December 1516 as part of the Italian Wars of 1494–1559. The main participants of the war, who fough ...

and lasted from 1508 to 1516. Cambrai was also 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 The War of the League of Cognac (1526–30) was fought between the Habsburg dominions of Charles V—primarily the Holy Roman Empire and Spain—and the League of Cognac, an alliance including the Kingdom of France, Pope Clement VII, the Repub ...

. In 1543 Cambrai was conquered by

Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, french: Charles Quint, it, Carlo V, nl, Karel V, ca, Carles V, la, Carolus V (24 February 1500 – 21 September 1558) was Holy Roman Emperor and Archduke of Austria from 1519 to 1556, King of Spain (Crown of Castile, Castil ...

, and annexed to his already vast possessions. He had the medieval monastery of Saint-Sépulchre demolished and a citadel built in its place. In 1595, the city was taken by the Spanish in the eighth and last French Wars of Religion. In December 1623, the community of nuns of the English Benedictine Congregation was founded at Cambrai. Expelled in 1793 as a result of the French Revolution, its successor community in 1838 was Stanbrook Abbey, near Malvern, Worcestershire, Malvern and later Wass, North Yorkshire, Wass in Yorkshire. In 1630, Cardinal Richelieu, Richelieu, wishing to counter the power of the Emperor and Spain, renewed the alliance of France with the Dutch Republic, United Provinces. The main effort of France had to focus on the Spanish Netherlands, and a sharing plan was established with the Dutch, with France to receive the Hainaut, Cambrésis, Artois, a large part of Flanders and Luxembourg and the County of Namur. Thirty Years' War#French intervention and continued Swedish participation (1635–1648), War was declared against Spain in 1635: It was followed by a Franco-Spanish War (1635–59), long series of wars which, compounded by subsistence and epidemics, caused crises which would bruise the

.pp.144–145 Mazarin tried unsuccessfully, in 1649, to seize the city which was being besieged by Henri, Count of Harcourt, Henri de Lorraine-Harcourt and the Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne, Vicomte de Turenne. A Spanish regiment, which came from

succeeded in entering the city and the siege was lifted. In 1657, the Vicomte de Turenne captured Cambrai. Again 4,000 horsemen under the command of Louis, Grand Condé, Condé, in the service of the Spain, manage to penetrate, and Turenne abandoned the city.pp.145–146 In 1666, in the greatest secrecy, Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV prepared new conquests by making plans of the Spanish fortifications, and then began the War of Devolution. The Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle (1668), 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

or Condé-sur-l'Escaut.

The annexation by France

In 1672, Franco-Dutch War, hostilities resumed against the Protestant Republic of the Netherlands and continued in the following years. In 1676, Louis XIV of France, Louis XIV, in an effort to "safeguard the tranquility of his borders for ever" ("''assurer à jamais le repos de ses frontières''"), focused most of his efforts against Spain and occupied Condé-sur-l'Escaut, Condé and

. On 17 March 1677, the French troops Siege of Valenciennes (1676–77), stormed Valenciennes and moved toward Cambrai, the strongest place of the Netherlands,p.147 which was reached on 20 March. On 22 March, Louis XIV was in the city in person.p.149 On 2 April, the French invested in a part of the place. By 5 April, the city surrendered, given the same benefits as Lille in 1667, but the Spanish garrison took refuge in the citadel and the siege continued until 17 April. After Siege of Cambrai (1677), 29 days of siege the king made his entry into the city, on 19 April, Easter Monday.p.151 Louis XIV named the Marquis de Cesen as governor, and appointed 14 new Alderman, aldermen while keeping the same Prévôt, provost. By the Treaty of Nijmegen of 1678, Spain had relinquished Cambrai, which has remained as a part of France, to this day. French influence would transform the architecture and urbanism of the city. The gables of the houses on the street were blocked and the city was embellished with mansions. The fortifications were reinforced with advanced works. The first archbishop appointed by the king of France was François Fénelon. He came to be known as the "Swan of Cambrai" ("''le cygne de Cambrai''"), in opposition to his friend and rival Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet, Bossuet, the "eagle of Meaux" ("''l'aigle de Meaux''"), and he wrote his ''Maxims of the Saints'' while residing in the city. He had a relentless zeal to enlighten the faithful and to convert the unfaithful.

The French Revolution

The city suffered from the French Revolution, Revolution: Joseph Le Bon, sent by the Comité de salut public, arrived in Cambrai in 1794. He was to set up an era of "terror", sending many to the guillotine, until he was tried and executed in 1795. One of his most famous victims was François III Maximilien de la Woestyne, 3rd Marquess of Becelaere. Most of the religious buildings of the city were demolished in that period: in 1797, the Old Cambrai Cathedral, old cathedral, which had been dubbed the "wonder of the low countries", was sold to a merchant on 6 June 1796 who left only the tower,p.410 after exploiting the cathedral as a stone quarry. The main tower was left standing until 1809, when it collapsedp.424 in a storm. However the cathedral's archives have been preserved (they are now at the Archives Départementales du Nord in

) and a Cambrai Cathedral, new cathedral was later provided.

19th century

The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 widely spared Cambrai. It also showed the futility of the fortifications which the city obtained permission to demolish, at its expense, in 1892.p.238 The outer boulevards were constructed and off to the location of the walls, between 1894 and the beginning of the 20th century. The appearance of the city was radically transformed, and the works stimulated the city's economy.p.245

20th century

LL 16 - Cambrai - Vue générale vers la Place d'Armes

Bundesarchiv Bild 146-1974-029-09, Frankreich, Cambrai, Flüchtlinge

In 1914, the German army occupied the city: This occupation, which lasted for four years, was marked by scenes of looting, requisitions and arrests of hostages. 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

s for the first time. In 1918, the Germans burned the city centre before leaving, destroying the city hall and the municipal archives. In total, more than 1,500 buildings were totally destroyed, of the 3,500 which consisted of Cambrai. The centre was to be rebuilt, a task which was entrusted to the architect .p.264p.266

also struck Cambrai. The city was bombed by the Luftwaffe on 17 May 1940, during the Battle of France, before falling the next day at the same time as Saint-Quentin. The remains of the Ninth Army (France), 9th French Army and Henri Giraud, General Giraud were taken prisoner by the Germans. From 27 April until 18 August 1944, 18

air raids were directed against the railway tracks, killing 250 people and destroying 1,700 buildings,p.275 or more than 50% of the city. The first American tanks entered the city on 2 September. After the war, the priority again was reconstruction. A municipality of the "union of the left" was elected in 1945, led by who would remain at the head of the city until 1981, promoting moderate Socialism.p.285 As early as 1947, the city submitted to a development project of the Ministry of Reconstruction. The municipality gave priority to the construction of houses: The ''Maison du Cambrésis'' [House of le Cambrésis], later ''Maison Familiale'' group, an

Municipal government

Cambrai is the

of one of the six

s in the Nord (French department), Nord department. Cambrai is also the seat of the canton of Cambrai, which consists of 27 communes (including Cambrai). Since 22 December 1992, Cambrai is the seat of the which includes 33 communes and approximately 68,000 inhabitants. The city also adheres to the following intercommunal structures: *The Intercommunal Association of Sanitation of the Cambrai Agglomeration (SIAC). * ''"Scènes mitoyennes"'' ["Adjoining Stages"], created in August 2000, brings together the communes of Cambrai, Caudry,

and

with which it harmonises cultural policies. *SIVU ''"Murs mitoyens"'' ["Adjoining Walls"], operational since 1 January 2006 and headquartered in Caudry, its mission is to educate the various planning authorities for the two cities. *The Intercommunity Association of the energy of the Cambrésis (SIDEC), which is headquartered at Neuville-Saint-Rémy, brings together the 111 communes in the arrondissement. It concedes the management of the public service energy distribution to Électricité Réseau Distribution France, ERDF and manages the work of strengthening and concealment of networks. *The (SCoT) of le Cambrésis (via the agglomeration community of Cambrai). *The Joint Association for the Enhancement of the Upper Scheldt (via the agglomeration community of Cambrai). Cambrai was merged with the commune of Morenchies in 1971.

List of mayors

Since 1945, Cambrai has had three mayors. The city, after having constantly re-elected a French Section of the Workers' International, Socialist mayor from the Liberation until 1977 in the person of Raymond Gernez, has since been administered by mayors from RPR or the related UMP: Jacques Legendre until 1992, then François-Xavier Villain. The latter was elected to the Nord's 18th constituency, 18th constituency in Nord on 16 June 2002 and re-elected in 2007 and 2012.

Judicial and administrative authorities

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

in 1713. The city is now within the jurisdiction of the . It is the seat of a whose jurisdiction coincides with the boundaries of the arrondissement, a Tribunal d'instance and an Labour Court (France), industrial tribunal, installed in the restored . With the reform of the judicial map launched in 2007 the city has lost its Tribunal de commerce, commercial court and is linked to that of Douai.

Environmental policy

Beginning 2010, the city's environmental policy seems difficult to read: There is a Directorate for the Environment at the mayor's office but the site fails to deliver any information. The environmental policy is one of the competences of the .

International relations

Cambrai is Twin towns and sister cities, twinned with: * Pushkin, Saint Petersburg, Russia * Châteauguay, Canada, since 1980 * Gravesham, United Kingdom, since 1989 * Esztergom, Hungary, since 1991 * Cieszyn, Poland

Population and society

Demography

In 2018, the commune had 32,501 inhabitants. The

(''unité urbaine'') of Cambrai had 46,772 inhabitants in 2018, and the functional area (France), urban area (''aire urbaine'') 94,576 inhabitants. In other less populated regions, Cambrai would be an important city, but in

, densely populated and urbanised, the city and its suburbs come far behind

(1,143,125 inhabitants),

-Lens, Pas-de-Calais, Lens (552,682),

(399,677),

Dunkirk Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.p.95 At the end of the Revolution, in 1801, it was still only approximately 15,000 inhabitants. It increased slowly but steadily throughout the 19th century with a net decline in the early 20th century: the birth rate, as everywhere else in France, declined. At the same time, infant mortality remained high (20.3% in 1900, 10.2% on the eve of the war),p.247 which explains the low natural growth. The population growth resumed at a rapid pace between the end of

and the beginning of the 1970s (the Trente Glorieuses), through Rate of natural increase, natural increase (Post–World War II baby boom, baby boomers and sharp decline of infant mortality) and the Rural flight, rural exodus, which slowly emptied the villages of Cambrésis of their population (partial) towards the town of Cambrai. This dynamism, however, showed however signs of stalling since 1968: in fact, the progress of jobs (+27.5% from 1952 to 1975) did not follow that of the population (+44.2%).p.281 The curve was brutally reversed by the

. The city's population plummeted from the 1975 census, net migration which was largely positive in the 1960s became negative, while the natural balance, which remains positive, tends to shrink. Many traditional activities have disappeared (chocolate production, brewery, chicory, weaving, metallurgy, etc.), representing several thousand jobs.

Age structure

The graphics below represent the age structure in 2017 of the population of the commune of Cambrai, and of the Nord department. The population of Cambrai is relatively old, partly compensated by a higher representation of the age group 15–29 years.

Population distribution

The population distribution of Cambrai (active population aged 15 or more in employment) by showed an under-representation of managers and higher intellectual professionals (10.0%) with the French average (16.3%), in 2017, and vice versa slightly higher proportions of Manual labour, manual workers (28.3% compared with 21.5%) and employees (30.2% against 28.5%). The proportion of is lower (22.8% against 24.8%). The percentage of farmers is naturally low in Cambrai (0.2%). The distribution of the population over the age of 15 years, and not enrolled in study, showed lower education rates than those of metropolitan France in 2017, most significantly in the higher levels (Baccalauréat or Bac+5 years of study).

Education

Cambrai is the seat of a pool of training divided into three districts (Cambrai-North, Cambrai-South and Cambrai-Le Cateau) and dependent on the of

and the Academy of Lille.

Schools

The city administers twelve , and eleven . The department manages four : Jules-Ferry, Fénelon, Lamartine and Paul-Duez. The

region operates four : Fénelon, Paul-Duez and the vocational Louise de Bettignies and Louis-Blériot. Cambrai also has a private institution, the ensemble of Saint-Luc, bringing together three former private schools merged in September 2009: Collège Jeanne d'Arc, Institution Notre Dame de Grace (college and high school of general and technological education) and the vocational high school La Sagresse.

University life

Cambrai hosts two branches of the University of Valenciennes and Hainaut-Cambresis (UVHC), and Lille 2 University of Health and Law, Lille-2. UVHC antenna prepares eleven diplomas, which include of DUT, IUP, Master Pro, professional licenses (including "Cultural Actions and Promotion of Heritage" and "Trades of Archaeology") and licenses. The branch of Lille-2 prepares to obtain a license "mention droit" or "mention economic and social administration", as well as three professional licenses: For management of small-medium businesses, for transportation of goods and for security professions. Finally, Catholic teaching. The whole of Saint Luc de Cambrai was a centre of higher education (Sup'Sagesse) from Bac+1 to Bac+5: BTS optician, BTS insurance, NRC, MUC, AG and AM, two professional licenses ("Operational Marketing Manager" and "Contingency Insurance and Management of Goods") and finally a Professional Master of "Entrepreneurial Strategy and Management", opened to the entrepreneurs. With nearly 500 students in alternation, learning or school track, Sup'Sagesse is a real city centre campus, incorporating a boarding school. Other institutions of higher education in Cambrai are the and the Institute of Nursing Education. Among the Alumnus, alumni of the École des Beaux-Arts of Cambrai are Marie-Anne and Ludovic Belleval who are now both the Lamour Mill, Briastre, Lamour Mill's Ownership, owners and curators in Briastre.

Cultural events and festivities

On 15 August is the communal festival of Cambrai, and one of the highlights of the popular local life. This great festival (or ) extends for ten days in the ''Place de l'Hôtel de ville'' [City Hall Square]. The day of 15 August is punctuated by the traditional parade of the giants , symbols of the city, and a fireworks display. This festival, originally a procession which took place the day after Trinity Sunday, dates back to 1220. It was embellished over time with fireworks, banquets and cavalcades, and was regarded as one of the seven wonders of the

. Over the centuries the festival has changed, reflecting the concerns of the contemporary: Since attachment to France it has been celebrated on 15 August, festival of the Assumption of Mary, Assumption, in response to the wish of Louis XIII of France, Louis XIII to devote the Kingdom to the Virgin; in 1790 it celebrated the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Fête de la Fédération; in 1802, with the signature of the concordat, the image of Our Lady of Grace was again carried in procession, reinforced by the bust of Fénelon. Under the First French Empire, First Empire it celebrated his Imperial Majesty

. In the 19th century, finally, interests turned more to local life, and the progress of science and industry.p.196 Musically, the town of Cambrai receives two festivals. Firstly, the ''Juventus'' classical music festival. The Juventus association mark young talented European soloists. They are appointed, if they accept it, "Juventus Winners" during their first participation in a Juventus festival. Every summer the old and the new winners gather for a fortnight at the festival to prepare chamber music concerts in exceptional conditions. ''Juventus'', established in 1991 at the Royal Saltworks at Arc-et-Senans, was set at Cambrai from 1998 with the help of the General Council of the department. Meanwhile, is an alternative music festival, which has been organised since 2003. It is organised during the month of April. ''Les Féodales'' is a street show which represents the

. The last edition took place in 2008. The Cambrai city hall is the national headquarters of the Union for the horse breed of the "Trait du Nord". The Trait du Nord national competition is traditionally held during the last weekend of July at the ''Palais des Grottes''. Bringing together the elite of the breed, it ends on Sunday afternoon on the ''Place de l'hôtel de Ville'' with a grand parade, the most important festive presentation in France of a breed of draft horses.

Health

Medical density is quite good at Cambrai, when compared with the regional and national averages. In the agglomeration community there are 2.04 general practitioners per 1,000 inhabitants (Nord Pas-de-Calais region and metropolitan France 1.65), and 1.98 specialist doctors per 1,000 inhabitants (region: 1.39, metropolitan France: 1.74). The Saint-Julien hospital, which housed the poor and the sick, was founded in 1070. Today it remains as a chapel adjoining the municipal theatre. Over the following centuries, other hospitals were founded: The Saint-Lazare Hospital for lepers, the Charité Hospital, Saint-Jean Hospital, the Saint Jacques au Bois Hospital to welcome the pilgrims, the general hospice of La Charité founded in 1752 to accommodate the elderly, beggars and the marginalised. After

the construction of a modern hospital was envisaged. The Central Hospital of Cambrai has a capacity of 770 beds and 108 seats. It employs a staff of 150 officers and has a non-medical staff of 1,200. Three annex buildings are reserved for medium and long stay, maternity (1982) and Psychiatry (1983–1884) patients. A Nursing Training Institute was opened in 1967. The work for the construction of the present site began in 1959, the installation of the patients being carried out between 1966 and 1968. In 2007, the work to modernise and expand the central hospital was undertaken. The 2010 prize list of "the safest hospitals" places the Central Hospital of Cambrai as the 11th best in the national ranking. Cambrai has three private clinics: The Sainte-Marie Clinic, Saint-Roch clinic and the Cambrésis Clinic.

Sports

Cambrai has over a hundred clubs or sporting associations, including the playing in the Women's field hockey Championship of France, as well as the team of which plays in the League (2nd division) and is the only professional club of le Cambrésis. Facilities include six gymnasiums, two swimming pools, of which the Liberty Swimming Centre was rebuilt and reopened in 2008, the Arsenal de Balagny, which was built between 1581 and 1595, abandoned by the army in 1967 and then rehabilitated as a gym, a leisure centre, a hockey stadium, a rugby stadium and many football pitches, including the Liberty Stadium, home of AC Cambrai. Cambrai has a rowing club that goes under the name of ''Union Nautique de Cambrai''. The club is regularly present to the Rowing French Championships. In the early 2000s, one of its feminine team members made it to the World Championships. Since then, the club has been in the phase of beginning a new cycle based on renewed team members, especially youngsters. Every year, the club is home to the Regattas of Cambrai, during which clubs from Northern France gather for sprint-races on a 1000m distance. The game of is practiced traditionally in regions of Cambrai and Douai. Cambrai was the departure point for Stage 4 of the 2004 Tour de France and once again the departure point of Stage 4 in the 2010 Tour de France. Cambrai hosted the finish of Stage 4 in the 2015 Tour de France, on 7 July, with a route from Seraing. In 2010, the newspaper ''L'Équipe'' ranked Cambrai among the top five cities as the most sporty in France with more than 20,000 inhabitants, along with Lorient, Colmar, Antibes and Tarbes. The special prize of "Sport and Disability" was awarded to the city for its access to sport for people with disabilities.

Media

The ''La Voix du Nord (daily), La Voix du Nord'' regional daily publishes a local edition. The ''L'Observateur du Cambrésis'' is a weekly local news and announcements. The municipal newspaper ''Le Cambrésien'' is distributed in all the mailboxes of the city. Cambrai is part of the territory served by radio BLC, a community radio station whose programmes are broadcast from Caudry. The inhabitants of Cambrai also have, in addition to some national radio stations, the programmes of France Bleu Nord, Chérie FM Cambrai and RFM (French radio station), RFM Nord. The city is covered by the programmes of France 3 Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France 3 Nord and the national Television in France, DTT channels. It also received the regional channel of . Oxygen TV is a Web television, web TV channel "100% of Cambrai" devoted to local information.

Worship

The people of Cambrai have places of Catholic Church, Catholic, Protestantism, Protestant and Islam, Muslim worship. Cambrai is the seat of a Catholic archbishopric, Suffragan bishop, suffragan of Lille since 29 March 2008. Until then, it was the opposite situation with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cambrai, Archdiocese of Cambrai as the metropolitan archdiocese and Lille and Roman Catholic Diocese of Arras, Arras as its suffragans. The Archdiocese of Cambrai includes the arrondissements of Cambrai, Valenciennes and Avesnes-sur-Helpe. The deanery of Cambrai brings together 13 churches grouped into two parishes: Our Lady of Grace and Saint Vaast-Saint Géry. The Baptists, Baptist community has an Evangelical Baptist Church, just as there is a parish of the Reformed Church of France. The Moroccan cultural and religious association of Cambrai manages the Al Mohssinine Mosque of Escaudain. In early 2010, there was no synagogue in Cambrai.

Economy

Cambrai is the seat of the . In April 2007, it decided to merge with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Arras, a decision which was called into question on 4 October 2007, by the Ministry of Supervision of the Chambers of Commerce and Industry. As a result of the planned closure in 2012 , Cambrai and

are classified from 1 January 2010 and until 31 December 2012 in the free zone "Zone of Defence Restructuring", allowing enterprises to create, settle or develop tax and social security exemptions.

Economic history

As early as the

, Cambrai was both an agricultural market for its region, which produces mainly cereals and wool, and a centre of weaving (sheets, Isatis tinctoria, woad, cloth, linen, chiffon). This dual role would persist for a long time. The drapery declined at the end of the 13th century but it was replaced by batiste, a speciality of the city, which experienced its greatest trend in the 17th century.p.137 Production declined, in turn, in the following century, but in 1775 there were still 58,000 pieces of batiste marked to Cambrai.p.161 Economic activity declined under the First French Empire, First Empire due to the wars and the British blockade. In the 19th century, the textile industry remained as the dominant activity of the city, with 2,546 workers, men, women and children, in 1848.p.222 Batiste made the bulk of Cambrai's trade with other productions such as soap and refined sea salt. The food industry grew: Brasserie, chicory; the Bêtise de Cambrai was invented in 1850. In the 19th century, the city was industrialised, especially when compared to its neighbours. Municipal officials often refused the installation of new factories, on behalf of sanitation or lack of space. The was created in 1872, by Jules Linard on the territory of the town of

. However, according to the census of 1886, industry was supporting more than 9,000 people, while agriculture used only 2,000 at most. The city mainly developed its commercial function: At the beginning of the 20th century the branch of the Banque de France, Bank of France from Cambrai ranked 12th in France, before Nice and Toulouse.p.244 After the

reconstruction stimulated the building industry. New enterprises were created from 1950: Hosiery, mechanics and carpentry employed several thousand people, while traditional manufacturing was disappearing: Chicory, chocolate, brewery and weaving. The economic crisis, of the 1970s, seriously degraded the employment situation.

Business and shops

There are four zones and parks of activity in the agglomeration: * The industrial zone of Cantimpré, to the south-west of the city. * The Actipole Park, on the edge of the A2 autoroute west of Cambrai, offers a total area of . As it is completely occupied, it is being extended. * The zone of Fontaine-Notre-Dame, a kilometre from the A26 autoroute, offers a total area of . * The zone of South Cambrai Proville, one kilometre to the south of Cambrai, on the , in the direction of Saint-Quentin, is devoted to the commercial areas over an area of . The economy of Cambrai is based on four pillars: * Agriculture, which occupies a third of the territory of the commune. * The agribusiness, agri-food industry, which occupies an important place in the economy of the commune (confectionery, candy, dairy, etc.) due to strong agricultural activity (intensive farming of Animal husbandry, livestock and cereals) in the arrondissement (80% of the area). * Logistics, benefitting from the situation of the commune of Cambrai in the heart of the triangle London–Paris–Benelux and the intersection of two motorways, tends to be concentrated in the western part of the agglomeration. Thus all of the of the Actipôle Raillencourt zone of activity located west of Cambrai on the edge of the A2 autoroute are now used, partly by distribution undertakings, for a thousand jobs around. The extensions Actipole 2 and 3 are underway or study. * Textile industry, Textile, found predominantly in the rest of the arrondissement (Caudry, Villers-Outréaux, etc.) is represented in Cambrai by clothing and linens. The Cambrai region is associated with those of

and the Métropole Européenne de Lille within the Up-Tex Pôle de compétitivité en France, competitiveness cluster, specialised in textile products high performance and customisation. The Central Hospital of Cambrai, the commune of Cambrai, Auchan, Les Papillons blancs, Cora (hypermarket), Cora, TANIS (chemistry, rubber, plastic), the ''Compagnie des Engrenages et Réducteurs Messiaen Durand'' (mechanical equipment) and the departmental fire and rescue service were, in order, the eight major employers in the town, in 2008.

Perspectives

The future Seine–Nord Europe Canal, Seine-Scheldt link, the commissioning of which is scheduled for 2016, is today one of the most promising elements of economic development to the city and the area of Cambrai. The Combined transport, multimodal platform of activities of

, west of Cambrai and on , should be employed to host European logistics and distribution centres and agro-food industries.

Income of the population and taxation

In 2009, the median was €15,302, which ranks Cambrai at 25,917th place among the 31,604 communes with more than 50 households in metropolitan France. In 2008, 263 Cambrai tax households performed the solidarity tax on wealth, for a mean wealth of €1.665 million and an average tax amount of €5,017.

Employment

According to the results of the 2017 Census, the economically workforce, active population aged 15 and over of the commune included 14,454 people, 24.3% were unemployment, unemployed (France: 13.9%). The distribution of jobs by business sector, sector of activity shows the predominant weight (almost 90%) of the Tertiary sector of the economy, tertiary sector. This distribution reflects the role which the administrative and commercial centre plays in the commune for the surrounding countryside. The distribution of jobs by socio-professional categories shows under-representation of "executives and intellectual professions", and "farmers", as well as an over-representation of the "intermediary professions" and "employees". The journeys to work are mostly by car (75.9%, France 70.5%) and one can note the low weight of public transport (5.8% against an average of 15.1% in France).

Local culture and heritage

French sartorial heritage

The city was a pivotal center of mulquinerie.

Sites and monuments

A large part of the monumental heritage of Cambrai has disappeared over the centuries. It was firstly

, in order to build a citadel at the Mont-des-Bœufs, who ordered the destruction of the Abbey Saint-Gery of Gothic style in 1543. During the

all of the religious buildings of the town were sold as national property and destroyed, including the Old Cambrai Cathedral, old cathedral. Only four churches, a converted attic, a hospital, a temple of reason and a prison, were spared. The dismantling of the fortifications, from 1894, led to the disappearance of many City gate, gates. Some have been preserved thanks to the interventions of the Society of Emulation of the city.

was again responsible for significant destruction, the German army having undermined and torched the city centre before retreating in September 1918. A total of 1,214 buildings were destroyed, including the city hall, which was rebuilt in the Neoclassical architecture, neoclassical style before the Revolution by the architects Jacques Denis Antoine and Nicolas-Henri Jardin.p.208 Finally at the end of

, in April 1944, and then again in May, July and until 11 August, Cambrai suffered Allied bombardments. A total of 55% of the buildings were heavily damaged and 13% were completely destroyed. Despite this considerable destruction, the city kept an important monumental heritage. Cambrai has been classified as a French Towns and Lands of Art and History, City of Art and History since 1992, the first town of the Nord department to obtain this prestigious label.

Religious heritage

The Cambrai Cathedral, Our Lady of Grace Cathedral was completed in 1703, in the classical style of the time, as the abbey church of the Holy Sepulchre. The church survived the turbulence of the

as a Temple of Reason from 1794. The admirable Old Cambrai Cathedral, Gothic Cathedral from the 12th century was destroyed in the aftermath the Revolution of 1789. There is no trace on the present ''Place Fénelon'' of the former building. Bishop Louis Belmas adopted the former abbey church as the new cathedral in 1801. The apse contains the monumental tomb of Fénelon, a masterpiece of the sculptor David d'Angers, and the semitransepts with ''l'Icône Notre Dame de Grâce'' [the Icon of Our Lady of Grace] and the nine reputed grisailles by Marten Jozef Geeraerts, Geeraerts of Antwerp. The grand Organ (music)#Chamber organ, organs were built by the house of of Ixelles in 1897. After the events of

, extensive restoration was undertaken by the organ builder Auguste Convers, who brought the current instrument to 49 stops with 3,670 pipes. The building was classified in the inventory of Monument historique, Historic Monuments on 9 August 1906. The most commonly called the College of the Jesuits' Chapel, completed in 1692, is a unique example of Baroque art in France, to the north of Paris. The chapel served as a prison to the nearby Revolutionary Court in 1794, and it was classified in the inventory of Historic Monuments on 30 April 1920. The , a listed historical monument since 26 November 1919, is one of the oldest monuments of Cambrai. It contains a remarkable Rood screen, choir screen in polychromatic marble carved by the Cambrai native Gaspard and Balthazard Marsy, Gaspard Marsy as well as ''La mise au tombeauu'' by Peter Paul Rubens dating from 1616. The grand organs built in 1867 by Joseph Merklin, Merklin were the subject of a significant transformation in 1978. The current instrument has 41 stops. This church has been the subject of a restoration of the frontage and roofing over a period of four years (2011–2015). Other buildings of Cambrai are also classified or listed as Historic Monuments. The former has been registered since 2 March 1943, and the have been classified as Historic Monuments since 1949.

Military heritage

The Citadel: Despite its dismantling in the 19th century, the Citadel of Charles V retained the counter-mine galleries which are today buried; the Royal gate and drawbridge, classified in the inventory of historical monuments on 14 April 1932, flanked on the back of two guardhouses and an arsenal of the 16th century. Among subsequent developments, a powder magazine, housing for officers and a "bombproof" barracks of the 19th century are also noteworthy. The is an old fortified château, which was built in the 11th century. Once isolated by the waters of the Scheldt, it has retained its towers and walls and especially buried ducts. The ducts include much graffiti which attests to the desperation of the prisoners, confined on the orders of the Count-Bishop. The (late 14th century), (17th century) and the (or Saint-Fiacre), the Caudron (1st half of the 15th century) and (16th century) are the remains of the medieval walls.

Civil heritage

The , formerly the bell tower of the Church of Saint-Martin. The monument, built in the 15th century, became a belfry of Cambrai in 1550. Classified in the inventory of historical monuments on 15 July 1965, in 2005 the belfry was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List as part of the Belfries of Belgium and France site, in recognition of its architecture and importance to the history of municipal power in Europe. The city hall, renovated in 1932, opens onto the ''Grand'Place'' by a majestic Greek-style façade, surmounted by a bell tower where two bronze bell ringers, giant and Moorish type, strike the hours on a big bell above the big clock: , the protectors of the city. The marriage hall contains a series of frescoes and can be visited on request. The Hotel de Francqueville (18th century) houses the rich collections of the , considerably enlarged and renovated in 1994. The relief map of the city, as it was at the end of the 17th century, is the starting point for essential guided tours of the city. The ''Maison Espagnole'' [Spanish House], headquarters of the Tourist Office, dates from 1595 and is the last house which is half-timbered and gabled on regional-style street. Oak sculptures (chimera (mythology), chimeras and caryatids) which adorned its façade in the 19th century are exposed on the first floor inside after undergoing a serious restoration. One can visit its medieval cellars. This building has been classified in the inventory of historical monuments on 31 August 1920. Marché couvert Cambrai

The covered market, built after World War II, is home to lively Les Halles market days. The subterranean space which extends below the centre of the city, as in other medieval cities, was explored in the middle of the 19th century as well as to the end of the 20th century. Carved into the white chalk, they include galleries, Romanesque and Gothic vaulted rooms. There are also wells, niches for statues. These excavations have served as quarries for the extraction of materials of construction, as well as stone for lime: The [underground quarries] are inverted funnels about deep and wide at the base. This underground space was also used, until 1944, for shelters and caches during sieges, invasion or bombing. Their dating is uncertain: It is not impossible that some of these excavations were carved during the Roman era, but it is likely that they were spaced out over a long period, according to the needs. Tours are organised by the tourist office.

Memorial heritage

The German military cemetery of the ''Route de Solesmes'' and Cambrai East Military Cemetery: The cemetery and the ''Route de Solesmes'' was created by the German army in March 1917. Occupied since 1914, Cambrai was an important centre of command, logistics and health for the occupant. The cemetery was opened to accommodate the bodies of soldiers who died in hospitals in the city, including at the end of the Battle of Arras (1917), Battle of Arras (April–May 1917) and the Battle of Cambrai (November–December 1917). The cemetery currently has 10,685 German graves, as well as those of 192 Russian prisoners of war and six Romanians. Two spaces, forming the Cambrai East Military Cemetery, contain the graves of 501 soldiers of the British Imperial Army.

Environmental heritage

Cambrai has the label "Floral City" with three flowers awarded by the ''National Council of Floral Cities and Villages of France'' in the Concours des villes et villages fleuris, Foral Competition of Cities and Villages. The current public garden dates from the 19th century, which saw the creation of green spaces in the middle to encourage Hygiene, hygienics and which were liberated in addition to the areas occupied by the fortifications. This garden, divided into three distinct but contiguous parts, is located on the site of the old fortifications that surrounded the citadel built under

*The "flower garden", designed by the landscape architect Jean-Pierre Barillet-Deschamps, was established between 1852 and 1865 on . This garden was originally the only one planned but, at the insistence of the prefect of the time, it was increased to in 1864.p.198 *The "Monstrelet Garden" designed "in English", was soon added to the previous. It is so called because it houses a statue of Enguerrand de Monstrelet, chronicler of the

who was the Prévôt, Provost of Cambrai. In 1876, the bandstand was erected, built on the plans of André de Baralle. *The "garden of caves", built in the early 19th century, carries a total area of more than . The "caves", decorated with a waterfall, were the main attraction and gave their name to this part of the garden. They were completed in 1906 and in 2010 are awaiting rehabilitation. These gardens, and in particular their statues, were damaged by the two world wars. In 1972, a modern hall, named as the ''Palais des Grottes'' [Mansion of Caves] and hosting exhibitions, trade fairs and concerts, was built in the middle of the garden of the same name. A few other squares or gardens complement the green spaces of Cambrai: Fenelon Square, established in 1861 to the designs of Barillet-Deschamps on the site of the Old Cambrai Cathedral, ancient metropolis and decorated in 1864 with a water fountain, that of the ''Place Marcelin Berthelot'', which dates from 1911. This is at the foot of the walls of the Château de Selles, dating from the same year. The one of the Arquets tower dates from 1954.p.199 The avenues and boulevards planted with trees and flowers to complete make Cambrai a "green" city.

Cultural heritage

The , opened in 1847 to present revolutionary seizures, has been installed since 1893 in a mansion of the 18th century, the Hotel de Francqueville. Renovated in 1994, it has three departments (archaeology, fine arts and heritage of Cambrai) on of which the most important is that of art. It presents Flemish and Dutch paintings from the 17th century and French artists of the 19th and 20th century. A recent donation also allowed it to present a collection of geometric Abstraction (art), abstractions of the second half of the 20th century. The Diocesan Museum of Sacred Art still officially retains its label "Musée de France",Label renewed by Ministerial Decree of 17 September 2003 although it was closed to the public in 1975. This private museum is managed by the diocese, which is looking for ways to reopen the collections to the public. The items of this collection may be the subject of loans for temporary exhibitions and include objects from the archaeological excavations of the city of Cambrai, architectural elements, sculpture, paintings, pieces of jewellery and liturgical ornaments. This museum's history began in 1926 when Monseignor , Archbishop of Cambrai, established a commission of religious history and sacred art aimed to inventory and preserve the archives and movable heritage of the diocese. Canon Cyrille Thelliez became secretary. In 1958, many religious objects from the diocese were gathered together and Thelliez founded the Diocesan Museum, the first religious art museum opened in France. The museum was installed in the former chapel of the Grand Seminary. The Théâtre de Cambrai was built in 1924 by the architect , on the site of a chapel of the 16th century which was destroyed during

. The chapel had been abandoned for 25 years when its rehabilitation was undertaken in 1999. The renovated theatre was inaugurated in 2003. It is an Italian theatre of 700 seats which hosts various performances, including those of the ''Scènes mitoyennes'' [Adjoining Stages] association and the . The ''Palais des grottes'' [Mansion of Caves] situated in the public garden, is a large multi-purpose hall with a capacity of 1,500 people and which can accommodate concerts, (including the ), fairs or exhibitions. Its remarkable roof shape, formed of a paraboloid, hyperbolic paraboloid (or "saddle"), was built in 1974 by then-advanced techniques and demonstrates a concrete form of architecture in the 20th century.pp.216–217 The media library is a classified municipal library: It has an important old fonds, with 956 manuscripts, the oldest dating back to the 7th century, from the confiscations made during the revolutionary era to religious communities, very important in the city, and emigrants of the region. This fonds was subsequently enriched by gifts, bequests and purchases. In 1975, it was one of the first institutions to adopt the title of "media library". It is divided into four services: Youth, adults, library and local history and old books. Cambrai has a national school of music and dramatic arts which obtained the ''Conservatoire à rayonnement départemental'' label in 2007.

Personalities linked to the commune

*Villard de Honnecourt, lived in Cambrai, architect of the 13th century *Pierre d'Ailly (1351–1420), Bishop of Cambrai from 1397 to 1411 *

(c. 1375–1456), died in Cambrai, composer *

(c. 1400–1471), died in Cambrai, composer *Desiderius Erasmus, Erasmus (1469–1536), appointed Secretary of the Bishop of Cambrai in 1493 * (c. 1540–before 1600), born in Cambrai, composer *Franciscus van der Burch (c. 1567–1644), named seventh Archbishop of Cambrai in 1616 *Amé Bourdon (1636 or 1638–1706), born in Cambrai, physician and anatomist *François Fénelon, François de Salignac de La Mothe-Fénelon (c. 1651–1715), appointed Archbishop of Cambrai in 1695 *Guillaume Dubois (c. 1656–1723), known as Cardinal Dubois. appointed Archbishop of Cambrai, though never set foot there *Charles François Dumouriez (1739–1823), born in Cambrai, soldier and politician *Francisco Luis Héctor de Carondelet, Francisco de Carondelet (1747–1807), in Noyelles, Spanish governor of Louisiana Territory, Louisiana, president of the ''Audiencia Real, Audiencia'' of Quito *Joseph Le Bon (born c. 1765–1795), envoy of the Committee of Public Safety, made the Reign of Terror in Cambrai *Charles Defrémery (1822–1883), orientalist born in Cambrai *Charles Cordier (1827–1905), born in Cambrai, sculptor of ethnographic subjects *Jules Gosselet (1832–1916), born in Cambrai, French geologist * (1857–1930), born in Cambrai, poet *Marcel Lermoyez (1858–1929), otologist *Georges Maroniez (1865–1933), painter and photographer, lived in Cambrai from 1897 *Louis Blériot (1872–1936), born in Cambrai, industrialist and aviator * (c. 1874–1954), architect of the reconstruction after World War II *Henri de Lubac (1896–1991), born in Cambrai, Jesuit Catholic theologian and Bishop *Julien Torma (1902–1933), writer, playwright and poet *René Dumont (1904–2001), born in Cambrai, engineer in agricultural science, agronomy, sociology, sociologist, and founder of the political ecology * (1907–1984), born in Cambrai, poet, painter, draughtsman and French filmmaker *Maurice Godelier (1934–), born in Cambrai, social anthropology, anthropologist, Neo-Marxism, neo-Marxist *Jean-Pierre Destrumelle (1941–2002), born in Cambrai, football player and coach *Jean Gascou (1945), papyrology, papyrologist *Marie-Georges Pascal (1946–1985), actress * (1955–), born in Cambrai, visual artist * (1957–1991), born in Cambrai, actress * (1963–), born in Cambrai, journalist and actress *Loïc Attely (1977–), born in Cambrai, fencer (Foil (fencing), foil fencer) *Nicolas Mérindol (1961–), born in Cambrai, banker, former Chairman of the Crédit foncier of France and Chairman of the Milton group

Culinary specialities

The two best-known gastronomic specialties of Cambrai are the , a sausage traditionally made of ground veal (which was prohibited by European regulations, following the episode of Bovine spongiform encephalopathy, mad cow disease
until 2015
, which associated gastronomic society is one of the most representative in the region, and the Bêtise de Cambrai, a coated mint confection which is one of the most emblematic gourmet specialties of France. The gastronomy of Cambrai also accounts for other less known specialities: Tripe, liver pâté with plums, hare with grapes, hochepot of partridge with puréed lentils, but also the , fromage blanc with fine herbs, and also a cheese trademarked as , or even crackers and ''pain crotté'' [muddy bread] (a type of French toast).

Heraldry, motto

The motto of the city has changed several times: *1579: ''"Cambray, city of peace."'' *1580: ''"Concordia parvæ res crescunt"'' ("Harmony makes small things grow"). This motto is the same as that of the Dutch Republic, United Provinces (''"Unity makes strength"'') *Current motto: ''"Proud of its past, sure of its future."'' The logo of the city is a stylisation of the steeples of the Cambrai Cathedral, cathedral, the Saint-Géry Church and , a visual signature of the city, visible from afar. Locally, Cambrai is known as "the city of three spires".

Military life

In 1711–1712, during the War of the Spanish Succession, the regiments of and Régiment Royal-Comtois, Royal-Comtois had their barracks at Cambrai. From the late 19th century, two military units were stationed at Cambrai. The 1st Infantry Regiment (France), 1st Infantry Regiment was quartered at Cambrai from 1870 to 1914, when it left for Belgium, before returning in 1919. It was split between the citadel and the Renel barracks. In 1940 it was again sent to Belgium, before being dissolved in 1942 in the free zone and did not return to Cambrai. The arrived in Cambrai in 1889 and is the Mortier quarter. This regiment was dissolved at the end of

. After

the Mortier quarter was assigned to the Selection Centre No. 2, today disbanded. Until 2012, the "René Mouchotte" was near the city, founded in 1953 and which hosted the 01.012 Fighter Squadron "Cambrésis" created in 1952, the 02.012 "Picardy" and the 03.012 "Cornouailles" [Cornwall], as well as a ground-to-air defence squadron.

Cambrai in literature and cinema

*Ernst Jünger in ''Storm of Steel'', dedicated to

, described Cambrai in 1917: *The streets of Cambrai served as a backdrop to ''Sang noir'' [Black Blood], a 90-minute fiction filmed from 7 March to 6 April 2006 through Production of France 3 Lille, based on the novel of the same name by Louis Guilloux which takes place in 1917 in a small town, far from the Western Front (World War I), Western Front. *In 2007, the construction of the bypass of Cambrai was used for the filming of the movie ''In the Beginning (2009 film), In the Beginning'' by Xavier Giannoli. Some scenes of the film ''Présumé coupable'' [Presumed Guilty], by Vincent Garenq, were shot at Cambrai in April 2010. *The comic book ''Asterix and the Banquet'' by René Goscinny, Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, Uderzo have a journey to various cities in Roman Gaul, including ''Camaracum'' (Cambrai): Asterix (character), Asterix and Obelix buy Bêtise de Cambrai, bêtises. *The young-adult novel ''Les Bêtises de Cambrai'' (Airvey, 2011) by Eric Callens.

Cambrai and philately

Four postage stamps have been issued in connection with the city of Cambrai: *10 July 1947, a stamp commemorating Fénelon, Archbishop of Cambrai, with a face value of 4.50 French franc, Francs. *19 February 1972, a stamp commemorating Louis Blériot, born in Cambrai, with a face value of 0.50 Francs with surcharge: 0.10 Francs for the benefit of the French Red Cross. *14 May 1977, a stamp commemorating the capture of Cambrai in 1677 and the annexation of Cambrésis by France, with a face value of 0.80 Francs *25 July 2009, a stamp commemorating the crossing of the English channel by Louis Blériot, with a face value of €2.00.

Notes

References

Sources

* * * * ''Revue du Nord'', Louis Trenard (dir.), Université de Lille III, Villeneuve d'Ascq, Vol. LVIII no.230, Numéro spécial "Cambrai et le Cambrésis", July–September 1976

Bibliography

: Document used as a source for the drafting of this article. * David Fallows, Barbara H. Haggh: "Cambrai", Grove Music Online ed. L. Macy (Accessed 18 December 2005)
(subscription access)
(source for the music history section) * * * Nuvola apps ksig horizonta

* * *

* *

* * * Special number "Cambrai et le Cambrésis", July–September 1976 Nuvola apps ksig horizonta

External links

Cambrai website
(French)
Aujourd'hui à Cambrai
(French)
Cambrai Public Library

Silent short film from 1918 demonstrates the devastating effects of shelling
* Georges Vérez. Sculptor of Cambrai War Memorial. {{Use dmy dates, date=October 2018 Cambrai, Communes of Nord (French department) Subprefectures in France Free imperial cities