Lens (; ) is a city in the

Pas-de-Calais The Pas-de-Calais (, ' strait of Calais'; ; ) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of France, with 890, and is the ...

department in northern France. It is one of the main towns of

Hauts-de-France Hauts-de-France (; ; ), also referred to in English as Upper France, is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. ...

along with

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; ; or ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced ...

Amiens Amiens (English: or ; ; , or ) is a city and Communes of France, commune in northern France, located north of Paris and south-west of Lille. It is the capital of the Somme (department), Somme Departments of France, department in the region ...

Roubaix Roubaix ( , ; ; ; ) is a city in northern France, located in the Lille metropolitan area on the Belgian border. It is a historically mono-industrial Communes of France, commune in the Nord (French department), Nord Departments of France, depar ...

Tourcoing Tourcoing (; ; ; ) is a city in northern France on the Belgian border. It is designated municipally as a commune within the department of Nord. Located to the north-northeast of Lille, adjacent to Roubaix, Tourcoing is the chef-lieu of two ca ...

Arras Arras ( , ; ; historical ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais department, which forms part of the region of Hauts-de-France; before the reorganization of 2014 it was in Nord-Pas-de-Calais. The historic centre of the Artois region, with a ...

and

Douai Douai ( , , ; ; ; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord (French department), Nord département in northern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, sub-prefecture of the department. Located on the river Scarpe (rive ...

. The inhabitants are called ''Lensois'' ().

Metropolitan area

Lens belongs to the intercommunality of Lens-Liévin, which consists of 36 communes, with a total population of 242,000. Lens, along with

and 65 other communes, forms the agglomeration (''

unité urbaine In France, an urban unit () 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 commune alone or a grou ...

'') of Douai-Lens, whose population as of 2018 was 504,281.Comparateur de territoire
INSEE, retrieved 20 June 2022.

History

Lens was initially a fortification from the Norman invasions. In 1180, it was owned by the

Count of Flanders The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century. Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the c ...

, and sovereignty was exercised by the Crown of France. In the 13th century, Lens received a charter from

Louis VIII of France Louis VIII (5 September 1187 8 November 1226), nicknamed The Lion (), was King of France from 1223 to 1226. As a prince, he invaded Kingdom of England, England on 21 May 1216 and was Excommunication in the Catholic Church, excommunicated by a ...

, allowing it to become a city. The Flemish razed the city in 1303. Prior to this, the city's population relied on its markets. In 1526, Lens was made part of the

Spanish Netherlands The Spanish Netherlands (; ; ; ) (historically in Spanish: , the name "Flanders" was used as a '' pars pro toto'') was the Habsburg Netherlands ruled by the Spanish branch of the Habsburgs from 1556 to 1714. They were a collection of States of t ...

under the ownership of the French monarchy, and only passed back to France on 7 November 1659 with the

Treaty of the Pyrenees The Treaty of the Pyrenees(; ; ) was signed on 7 November 1659 and ended the Franco-Spanish War that had begun in 1635. Negotiations were conducted and the treaty was signed on Pheasant Island, situated in the middle of the Bidasoa River on ...

. In 1849, coal was discovered in Lens after surveys were carried out at Annay, Courrières and Loos-en-Gohelle. This led to the expansion of the city into an important industrial center as part of the

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 (French department), Nord and Pas-de-Calais departments. The region is famous for its long history of coal extraction and its testimony to a s ...

. The Lens Mining Company was founded in 1852 and experienced large profits. The city, occupied from 1914 to 1918, was largely destroyed in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and its population of 18,000 fell by half. In

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the Allies bombarded the city from the air, leaving 500 dead and 1,000 buildings destroyed. A new Hôtel de Ville was erected in 1965. The last coal mine in Lens closed in 1986. The Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin was made a

UNESCO Heritage site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural heritag ...

in 2012, and the

Louvre-Lens The Louvre-Lens is an art museum located in Lens, France, approximately 200 kilometers north of Paris. It displays objects from the collections of the Musée du Louvre that are lent to the gallery on a medium- or long-term basis. The Louvre-Lens ...

art museum was opened the same year.

Education

Lens is the site of one of the five campuses of the

University of Artois The University of Artois (French language, French: ''Université d'Artois'') is a List of universities and colleges in France, public university situated in the Nord (French department) , Nord and Pas-de-Calais French departments, departments o ...

Transport

The Lens railway station, built in 1927, is served by regional trains towards

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

and

. It is also connected to the

TGV The TGV (; , , 'high-speed train') is France's intercity high-speed rail service. With commercial operating speeds of up to on the newer lines, the TGV was conceived at the same period as other technological projects such as the Ariane 1 rocke ...

network, with high speed trains to Paris. It is served by the Lens-Béthune bus network, with bus services running across Lens and connecting it to nearby towns.

Sport

Football club

RC Lens Racing Club de Lens (), commonly referred to as RC Lens or simply as Lens, is a French professional football club based in the northern city of Lens in the department of Pas-de-Calais. The club's nickname, ''Les Sang et Or'' (), comes from i ...

plays in the town. Their stadium,

Stade Bollaert-Delelis The Stade Bollaert-Delelis () is the main football stadium in Lens, France, that was built in 1933. It is the home of RC Lens. The stadium's capacity is 38,223 – about 7,000 more than the city's population. The stadium was originally named af ...

, was used for

UEFA Euro 1984 The 1984 UEFA European Football Championship final tournament was held in France from 12 to 27 June 1984. It was the seventh UEFA European Championship, a competition held every four years and endorsed by UEFA. At the time, only eight countries ...

, the

1998 FIFA World Cup The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the Association football, football world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 1 ...

and

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...

and the

1999 Rugby World Cup The 1999 Rugby World Cup () was the fourth Rugby World Cup, the quadrennial international rugby union championship. It was the first Rugby World Cup to be held in the sport's History of rugby union#The professional era, professional era. Four a ...

and the

2007 Rugby World Cup The 2007 Rugby World Cup () was the sixth Rugby World Cup, a quadrennial international rugby union competition organised by the International Rugby Board. Twenty nations competed for the Webb Ellis Cup in the tournament, which was hosted by F ...

Population

Gallery

Image:Pas de Calais est.png, East of Pas-de-Calais (Béthune, Lens, Hénin-Beaumont) Image:Lens-eglise.jpg, Lens church Image:Lens-ruepietonne.jpg, Main shopping district File:Lens Coal Tip.JPG, One of the many cone-shaped coal tips that litter the landscape near Lens File:UEFA Euro 2016 Lens 4.JPG, The Hôtel de Ville

References

External links

Official web site

Communauté d'Agglomeration of Lens-Liévin
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lens, Pas-De-Calais Communes of Pas-de-Calais Subprefectures in France Populated places in Artois