Boulogne-sur-Mer

From Free net encyclopedia

This article is on Boulogne-sur-Mer. For other places called Boulogne, see the disambiguation page.

Boulogne-sur-Mer is a city in northern France, in the Pas-de-Calais département of which it is a sous-préfecture. It is located by the English Channel.

Population of the city (commune) at the 1999 census was 44,859 inhabitants, whereas the whole metropolitan area (aire urbaine) had 135,116 inhabitants.

1 Name
2 History
3 Miscellaneous
- 3.1 Births
4 Other famous people associated with Boulogne
- 4.1 Twin towns
5 See also
6 External links

[edit]

Name

The name Boulogne was recorded for the first time during the Roman Empire as Bononia, a derivative of the Celtic word bona (meaning "foundation", "settlement", "citadel"). This derivation is also found in the name of the Italian city of Bologna.

[edit]

History

Image:Cathedral, Boulogne-sur-Mer, France.JPG Originally named Gesoriacum and probably also to be identified with Portus Itius, by the 4th century Boulogne was known to the Romans as Bononia and served as the major port connecting the rest of the empire to Britain. The emperor Claudius used this town as his base for the Roman invasion of Britain, in AD 43, and until 296 it was the base of the Classis britannica.

In the Middle Ages it was the centre of a namesake county. The area was fought over by the French and the English. In 1550, The Peace of Boulogne ended the war of England with Scotland and France. France bought back Boulogne for 400,000 crowns.

In the 19th century the Cathedral of Notre Dame was reconstructed by the priest Benoit Haffreingue after he received a call from God to reconstruct the town's ruined basilica.

[edit]

Miscellaneous

Open in 1991, NAUSICAÄ [1] - The French National Sea Experience Centre is a Science Centre entirely dedicated to the relationship between Mankind and the Sea. Aquaria, exhibitions on the marine fauna, and the exploitation and management of marine resources (fisheries, aquaculture, coastal planning, maritime transport, exploitation of energies and mineral resources, tourism...). Its goal is to incite the general public to discover and to love the Sea, while raising its awareness on the need for a good management of marine resources.

In the year 1905 the First Esperanto Universal Congress was held in Boulogne-sur-Mer. L. L. Zamenhof, the creator of Esperanto, was among the attendees. In the year 2005 there was held a great anniversary meeting with more than 500 attendees.

[edit]