Bayeux

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Coordinates: 49°16′46″N 0°42′10″W / 49.279445°N 0.702778°W / 49.279445; -0.702778

Administration
Commune of Bayeux
Bayeux Cathedral
Location
Bayeux
Country	France
Region	Basse-Normandie
Department	Calvados
Arrondissement	Bayeux
Canton	Bayeux
Intercommunality	Bayeux Intercom
Statistics
Elevation	32–67 m (100–220 ft)
Land area¹	7.11 km² (2.75 sq mi)
Population²	14,961 (1999)
- Density	2,104 /km² (5,450 /sq mi)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	14047/ 14400
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Bayeux (French pronunciation: [bajø]) is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in northwestern France.

Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, one of the oldest surviving complete tapestries in the world.^[1]

1 Administration
2 Location
3 History
4 Natural features
5 Sights
6 Persons connected with Bayeux
7 Demographics
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

Administration

Bayeux is a sub-prefecture of Calvados. It is the seat of the arrondissement of Bayeux and of the canton of Bayeux.

Location

Bayeux is located seven kilometers from the coast of La Manche (English Channel) and 30 km north-west of Caen. The city, with elevations varying from 32 to 67 meters above sea level – with an average of 46 meters above sea level – is bisected by the river Aure. Bayeux is located at the crossroads of (RN13) and the train route Paris-Caen-Cherbourg. The city is the capital of the Bessin, which extends north-west of Calvados.

History

The area around Bayeux is called the Bessin, which was a province of France until the French Revolution. The name of the city and the region come from the Celtic tribe inhabiting the Bajocasses region. During the Second World War, Bayeux was the first city in France to be liberated during the Battle of Normandy, and on 16 June 1944 General Charles de Gaulle made his first major speech in Bayeux in which he made clear that France sided with the Allies. The buildings in Bayeux were virtually untouched during the Battle of Normandy, the German forces being fully involved in defending Caen from the Allies.

The Bayeux War Cemetery with its memorial includes the largest British cemetery dating from the Second World War in France. There are 4648 graves, including 3935 British and 466 Germans. Most of those buried there were killed in the invasion of Normandy.

Natural features

The river Aure flows through Bayeux, offering panoramic views from a number of locations. The Aure has a relatively high level of turbidity and the speed of its brownish water is moderate because of the slight slope of the watercourse, although where it is narrow in places like the center of Bayeux, higher surface speeds are generated. In the center of Bayeux near the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, pH levels were measured at 8.35 and the electrical conductivity of water was tested at 37 microsiemens per centimeter. Turbidity was measured at 13 centimeters by the Secchi disc method. At this point of reference, flows are generally of the order of 50 cubic feet per second. ^[2]

Sights

Bayeux is a major tourist attraction, best known to British and French visitors for the Bayeux tapestry, made to commemorate events in the Norman conquest of England in 1066. The tapestry was made by Reine Mathilde, wife of William the Conquerer, and may have been woven in England.^[3] It is displayed in a museum in the town centre. The large Norman-Romanesque Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Bayeux,^[4] consecrated in 1077, was the original home of the tapestry.

The Jardin botanique de Bayeux is a botanical garden dating from 1864.

Persons connected with Bayeux

Muriel Barbery (born 1969), writer
Berengar II of Neustria (died 896 AD), Count of Bayeux
Roger Bésus (1915-1994), sculptor and writer
Frédéric Born (born 1975), footballer
Alain Chartier (1392-1430), politician and poet
Pierre Du Bosc (1623-1692), preacher
Franck Dumas (born 1968), footballer and coach Stage Malherbe de Caen
Jean-Léonce Dupont (born 1955), senator and former mayor
Arcisse de Caumont (1801-1873), archaeologist, founded the Societé des Antiquaires de Normandy
François de Caumont (1768-1848), designer and painter
Miss George (1787-1867), actress and mistress of Napoleon
Lenepveu Georges (1857-1923), inventor and master glassmaker
François Gérard (1770-1837), painter and member of Bayeux
Jean Grémillon (1901-1959), film director
Rupalley Joachim (1718-1780) painter
Alfred Lair of Beauvais (1820-1869), organist and composer
Robert Lefèvre (1755-1830), painter
Lionel Lemonchois (born 1960), navigator
Cieux Léon (1821-1873), violinist
Damien Letulle (born 1973), Olympic archer
Rupalley Gabriel Narcisse (1745-1798), painter
Saint Marcouf (died 588 AD), saint born in Bayeux, best known for the healing of scrofula
Eric Navet (born 1959), jockey
Poppa of Bayeux, daughter of Berengar II, wife of Rollo
Saint Vigor (died 537 AD), bishop of Bayeux from 513 to 537, destroyed a pagan temple in Bayeux
William the Conqueror/Duke of Normandy, Conqueror of England in 1066