home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
- Capital of Calvados departement, France, on
- the river Orne; population (1982) 183,526. It
- is a business centre, with ironworks,
- electric and electronic industries. Caen
- building stone has a fine reputation. The
- town is linked by canal with the nearby
- English Channel to the NE. The church of St
- Etienne was founded by William the Conqueror,
- and the university by Henry VI of England in
- 1432. Caen was captured by the British in
- World War II on 9 July 1944 after five weeks'
- fighting, during which the town was badly
- damaged.
-