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:''This article is on Boulogne-sur-Mer. For other places called Boulogne, see Boulogne.''

'Boulogne-sur-Mer' ('Bonen' in Dutch) 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.

Contents

Name

History

Miscellaneous

Born in Boulogne-sur-Mer

Other famous people associated with Boulogne

Twin towns

See also

External links

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.

History

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. During the Napoleonic Wars, Napoleon amassed La Grande Armée in Boulogne to invade the United Kingdom in 1805. However, his plans were halted by other European matters and the supremacy of the Royal Navy.
Boulogne-sur-Mer is also one of the most important fishing ports in France.

Miscellaneous

Open in 1991, NAUSICAÄ - 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.
The town's University extends over 4 sites - Boulogne-sur-Mer, Calais, Dunkerque and St. Omer.
At the ULCO (Université du Littoral Côte d'Opale), 6 major subjects can be studied : Languages, French Literature, Sport, Law, History and Economy.
ULCO is situated in the town centre, at about 5 minutes from the Boulogne Tintelleries train station. There are shops, a cinema, and the beach 5 minutes by foot. Before it became the college, the site was the St. Louis Hospital. The front entrance of the old hospital still remains as an architectural feature.

Born in Boulogne-sur-Mer

★ Matilda of Boulogne (1105-1152), countess of Boulogne and queen of England.

★ Frédéric Sauvage (1786-1857), engineer and inventor of the propeller.

★ Pierre Claude François Daunou (1761-1840), politician and historian

★ Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve(1804-1869), literary critic and one of the major figures of French literary history

★ Guillaume Duchenne (1806-1875), neurologist

★ Alexandre Guilmant (1837-1911), organist/composer

★ Auguste Mariette (1821-1881), scholar and archaeologist, one of the foremost Egyptologists of his generation, and the founder of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo

★ Benoît-Constant Coquelin (1841-1909), actor

★ Ernest Alexandre Honoré Coquelin, actor

★ Georges Mathieu (1921), painter

★ David Early, M.B.E., (1921), famous 'radio ham' (G3DGW)

★ Sophie Daumier (born 1934), actress

★ Jean-Pierre Papin (born 1963), football player

★ Mickael Bourgain (born 1980), track cyclist

★ Franck Ribéry (born 1983), football player

★ François Ribéry, his brother, (born 1987), football player

Other famous people associated with Boulogne

★ Julius Caesar (100-44 BC), as a proconsul,

★ Godfrey of Bouillon (1060-1100), count of Boulogne, leader of the first crusade

★ Blaise de Monluc (1500-1577), marshal of France,

★ Henry II (1519-1559), king of France

★ Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), emperor,

★ Napoleon III (1808-1873), emperor,

★ José de San Martín, South American Hero, lived for two years and died here in 1850,

★ Queen Victoria (1819-1901),

★ Maurice Boitel (born 1919), painter,

★ Constant Coquelin, actor,

★ Jacques-Oudart Fourmentin said "Le Baron Bucaille", corsair,

★ Benoît-Agathon Haffreingue, priest and builder of the cathedral,

★ Olivier Latry, organist,

★ "Niall of the Nine Hostages" (c. 342 - c.405).

★ Patrick Walsh (1978), singer/songwriter

Twin towns

Boulogne-sur-Mer is twinned with:

★ Constanţa, Romania

★ Folkestone, United Kingdom

★ La Plata, Argentina

★ Zweibrücken, Germany - since 1959

See also

★ Château de Boulogne-sur-Mer

★ Côte d'Opale

★ Siege of Boulogne

★ Vieux-Boulogne

★ Itius Portus

★ Notre-Dame de Boulogne

External links

★ Tourism in Boulogne sur Mer and the Boulonnais area (in English)

★ Boulogne-sur-Mer city council website (in French)

★ Visiting Boulogne-sur-Mer (English guide and tourist map)

★ NAUSICAÄ's official website (in French and English)

★ Boulogne 2005 Esperanto ''(en eo fr)''

★ A few old postcards of Boulogne-sur-Mer

★ Universite d'ete de Boulogne-sur-Mer

★ The university library of ULCO