- Ouistreham
-
Ouistreham
Ouistreham locks 
OuistrehamLocation within Lower Normandy region
OuistrehamAdministration Country France Region Lower Normandy Department Calvados Arrondissement Caen Canton Ouistreham Mayor André Ledran
(2008–2014)Statistics Elevation 12 m (39 ft) avg. Land area1 9.95 km2 (3.84 sq mi) Population2 9,322 (2008) - Density 937 /km2 (2,430 /sq mi) INSEE/Postal code 14488/ 14150 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. Coordinates: 49°16′48″N 0°15′26″W / 49.28°N 0.257222222222°W
Ouistreham is a commune in the Calvados department' in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.
Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry-harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town is about the mouth of the Canal de Caen à la Mer.
Contents
History
The name Ouistreham derives from ouistre - 'oyster' and Saxon ham= 'village'. It has been a trading port since the Middle Ages. The harbour is now a part of "Port de Caen-Ouistreham". Ouistreham is pronounced Wee-ss-tram.
Since the beginning of the 20th century, it is a bathing beach on the "Riva Bella".
On 6 June 1944, No. 4 Commando landed at Ouistreham (Sword Beach) and fought their way to Pegasus Bridge, with the 177 Free French of the No. 10 (Inter-Allied) Commando given the honour of spearheading the advance.[1] The assault on Ouistreham was featured in the movie The Longest Day, although the film location for Ouistreham was actually at Port-en-Bessin.
German battery in Ouistreham, fitted with the turret of a Renault FT-17 tank.
Population
Historical population of Ouistreham 1793 1800 1806 1821 1831 1836 1841 1846 1851 1856 854 796 1050 1104 1162 1149 1359 1194 1133 1221 1861 1866 1872 1876 1881 1886 1891 1896 1901 1906 1259 1243 1249 1196 1222 1206 1194 1354 1688 1523 1911 1921 1926 1931 1936 1946 1954 1962 1968 1975 1574 2013 2220 2584 2790 3527 4342 4780 5223 6140 1982 1990 1999 2008 6310 6709 8674 9322 Tourist sites
- Museum of the Atlantic Wall
- Musée du Débarquement n° 4 Commando (museum)
- Der Grosse Bunker (French: Le Grand Bunker) is an old German bunker from WW2 that was captured by the British in the D-Day invasion
Transportation
The port of Ouistreham has a scheduled cross-Channel ferry service to Portsmouth, operated by Brittany Ferries.
Twin towns
Ouistreham is twinned with the West Sussex village of Angmering in England; also with Braine-l'Alleud in Belgium, and Lohr am Main in Germany.
See also
References
- ^ Dunning, James (2003). The Fighting Fourth - No. 4 Commando at War 1940-45. Stroud: Sutton Publishing. p. 133. ISBN 0-7509-3095-0.
Categories:- Communes of Calvados
- Ports and harbours of the English Channel
- Calvados geography stubs
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
