Château de Guînes

The siege of Guînes took place from May to July 1352, when a French army under Geoffrey de Charny unsuccessfully attempted to recapture the French castle at Guînes which had been seized by the English the previous January. The siege was part of the Hundred Years' War and took place during the uneasy and oft-broken truce of Calais. The English had taken the strongly fortified castle during a period of nominal truce, and the English king, Edward III, decided to keep it. Charny led 4,500 men and retook the town, but could not blockade the castle. After two months of fierce fighting, a large English night attack on the French camp inflicted a heavy defeat and the French withdrew. Guînes was incorporated into the Pale of Calais. The castle was besieged by the French in 1436 and 1514 but was relieved each time, before falling to the French in 1558.

Guînes (French pronunciation: [ɡin]; West Flemish: Giezene; Picard: Guinne) is a commune in the northern French department of Pas-de-Calais. Historically, it was spelt Guisnes. On 7 January 1785, Jean-Pierre Blanchard, a French pioneer in hydrogen-balloon flight, completed the first aerial crossing of the English Channel, landing in the woods south of Guînes, where a memorial column stands today.

The communauté de communes des Pays d'Opale (before 2017: communauté de communes des Trois Pays) was created on 27 December 1996 and is located in the Pas-de-Calais département, in northern France. It lost four communes to the agglomeration community Grand Calais Terres et Mers on 1 December 2019. Its seat is Guînes. Its area is 189.3 km2, and its population was 25,188 in 2018.

Hames-Boucres (French pronunciation: [am bukʁ]) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.

Saint-Tricat (French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ tʁika]; West Flemish: Sintergaas) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.

Andres (French pronunciation: [ɑ̃dʁ]; West Flemish: Anderne) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.

Nielles-lès-Calais (French pronunciation: [njɛl lɛ kalɛ], literally Nielles near Calais) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.

Coulogne (French pronunciation: [kulɔɲ]) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department, region of Hauts-de-France, France.

The canton of Calais-Centre is a former canton situated in the department of the Pas-de-Calais and in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region of northern France. It was disbanded following the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. It consisted of 3 communes, which joined the canton of Calais-2 in 2015. It had a total of 27,832 inhabitants (2012).

Fréthun (French pronunciation: [fʁetœ̃]; West Flemish: Fraaituin) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.

Calais-Fréthun station (French: Gare de Calais-Fréthun) is an SNCF international railway station in the suburbs of Calais, France. It is one of four stations serving the town; the others are Calais-Ville in the town centre, Fontinettes in the suburbs, and Beau Marais in the suburbs. The station has four platforms, two on the high-speed line for Eurostar services, and two for SNCF TER Hauts-de-France regional services. The TER platforms are also used by some TGV long-distance services.

The canton of Calais-2 is an administrative division of the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. It was created at the French canton reorganisation which came into effect in March 2015. Its seat is in Calais. It consists of the following communes: