Calais

The Pale of Calais was a territory in northern France ruled by the monarchs of England from 1347 to 1558. The area, which centred on Calais, was taken following the Battle of Crécy in 1346 and the subsequent Siege of Calais, and was confirmed at the Treaty of Brétigny in 1360, in the reign of Edward III of England. It became an important economic centre for England in Europe's textile trade centered in Flanders. The Pale, which was historically part of Flanders, also provided England with a permanent strategic, defensible outpost from which it could plan and launch military action on the continent. Its position on the English Channel meant it could be reinforced, garrisoned and supplied over the Straits of Dover. The territory was bilingual with English and Flemish commonly spoken. It was represented in the Parliament of England by the Calais constituency. During the reign of Mary I of England, the Pale was unexpectedly retaken by the French following a siege in 1558 during their campaigns against the Spaniards (whose king was also married to queen Mary) in the County of Flanders. Subsequently, the English textile trade abandoned Calais and moved to the Habsburg Netherlands.

The siege of Calais between June and July 1436 was a failed siege of English-held Calais by Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, and Flemish militia.

The siege of Calais of 1596, also known as the Spanish conquest of Calais, took place at the strategic port-city of Calais (present-day northern France), between 8 and 24 April 1596, as part of the Franco-Spanish War (1595–1598), in the context of the French Wars of Religion, the Anglo-Spanish War (1585–1604), and the Eighty Years' War. The siege ended when the city fell into Spanish hands after a short and intense siege by the Spanish Army of Flanders commanded by Archduke Albert of Austria, Governor-General of the Spanish Netherlands (Spanish: Alberto de Austria). The French troops in the citadel of Calais resisted for a few days more but finally, on 24 April, the Spanish troops led by Don Luis de Velasco y Velasco, Count of Salazar, assaulted and captured the fortress, achieving a complete victory. The Spanish success was the first action of the campaign of Archduke Albert of 1596.

The Cité de la Dentelle et de la Mode is a museum of lace in Pas de Calais in northern France. It is one of two museums in France to celebrate machine lace making. The museum is an Anchor point on the European Route of Industrial Heritage. Cité de la Dentelle et de la Mode is a museum of both fashion and industry, its vast galleries present the techniques, the lingerie, and haute couture associated with this prestigious textile, as well as its most contemporary aspects. Derived from a technique invented in England in the nineteenth century, today lace woven on Leavers looms is primarily produced in Northern France. The Museum for Lace and Fashion is a focal hub for fashion. In its exhibition gallery, it showcases great couturiers and renowned young designers alike (Cristóbal Balenciaga, Anne Valérie Harsh, Iris Van Herpen, Hubert de Givenchy, On Aura Tout Vu, Yves Saint Laurent.)

Grand Calais Terres et Mers (before 2017: Communauté d'agglomération du Calaisis) is an agglomeration community created on 28 December 2000 and located in the Pas-de-Calais département, in northern France. It was expanded with four communes from the Communauté de communes des Pays d'Opale on 1 December 2019. Its area is 184.1 km2. Its population was 104,367 in 2018, of which 72,929 in Calais proper. It comprises the following 14 communes:

The Quartier Saint-Pierre is the heart of the old town of Saint-Pierre-lès-Calais (West Flemish: Sint-Pieter), which was merged with the town of Calais in 1881. It is centered on the church of St. Pierre, in front of which a market is held on Saturday mornings, and on the labor exchange. The economy of the town of Saint-Pierre focused on the lace industry, that of Calais on its harbor and on fishing around Courghain. The Gare de Calais-Ville was originally the station of Saint-Pierre-lès-Calais, opened in 1848 by the Chemin de Fer du Nord, 40 years before the union of Calais with Saint-Pierre. The bridge over the railway marks the boundary between the two ancient cities, and even today marks the boundary between the old industrial city and the port city.

The Hôtel de Ville (French pronunciation: [otɛl də vil], City Hall) is the seat of the city council in Calais, France. The building features a belfry of red brick and white limestone which is 72 metres (236 ft) high. It was designated a monument historique by the French government in 2003.

The Burghers of Calais (French: Les Bourgeois de Calais) is a sculpture by Auguste Rodin in twelve original castings and numerous copies. It commemorates an event during the Hundred Years' War, when Calais, a French port on the English Channel, surrendered to the English after an eleven-month siege. The city commissioned Rodin to create the sculpture in 1884 and the work was completed in 1889.

The Pas-de-Calais (French: [pɑ d(ə) kalɛ] , "strait of Calais"; Picard: Pas-Calés; Dutch: Nauw van Calais) is a department in north-eastern 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 8th most populous. It had a population of 1,465,278 in 2019. The Calais Passage connects to the Port of Calais on the English Channel. The Pas-de-Calais borders the departments of Nord and Somme and is connected to the English county of Kent via the Channel Tunnel.

The Canal de Calais connects the Aa River near Ruminghem to the inner basins of the Port of Calais. Many boats enter the French canal system through the port of Calais and this canal. It is 30 km long and has 3 locks.

The Arrondissement of Calais is an arrondissement of France in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region. It has 52 communes. Its population is 158,492 (2016), and its area is 593.4 km2 (229.1 sq mi).

Calais-Ville station (French: Gare de Calais-Ville) is a railway station in the city centre of Calais, France.