Guînes Giezene | |
|---|---|
 Town hall and plaza | |
.svg) Coat of arms | |
 Location of Guînes | |
  Guînes  Guînes | |
| Coordinates:50°52′09″N01°52′13″E / 50.86917°N 1.87028°E /50.86917; 1.87028 | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Hauts-de-France |
| Department | Pas-de-Calais |
| Arrondissement | Calais |
| Canton | Calais-2 |
| Intercommunality | CC des Pays d'Opale |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Éric Buy[1] |
Area 1 | 26.42 km2 (10.20 sq mi) |
| Population (2022)[2] | 5,508 |
| • Density | 208.5/km2 (540.0/sq mi) |
| Demonym | Guînois |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 62397 /62340 |
| Elevation | 0–166 m (0–545 ft) (avg. 6 m or 20 ft) |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Guînes (French pronunciation:[ɡin];West Flemish:Giezene;[3]Picard:Guinne) is acommune in the northern Frenchdepartment ofPas-de-Calais.[4] Historically, it was speltGuisnes.
On 7 January 1785,Jean-Pierre Blanchard, a French pioneer in hydrogen-balloon flight, completed the first aerial crossing of theEnglish Channel, landing in the woods south of Guînes, where a memorial column stands today.
Guînes is located on the border of the two territories of theBoulonnais andCalaisis, at the edge of the now-drained marshes, which extend from there to the coast. The Guînes canal connects with Calais.
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Historically, Guînes was the capital of a smallcounty of the same name.
After theRomans left, in the 5th century, there is little known about thetown. In theDark Ages, according to legend, the territory of Guînes became the property of one Aigneric,Mayor of the Palace of theBurgundian kingThéodebert II.
In 928, when the Danes invaded and seized the place, it was probably a defenceless village. A fenced mound and a double ditch would soon have been created by theDanes. This is the origin of the castle of Guînes.Arnulf I, Count of Flanders, realizing a counter-attack would be costly, arranged the marriage of his daughter Elstrude, toSigfrid, the Danish leader, bestowing upon him the title ofCount of Guînes but as vassal to him, the Count of Flanders. Under Sigfrid's successors, the county of Guînes acquired considerable importance.[5]
At the beginning of the 11th century, Count Manassès founded a convent of theorder of St Benedict. This was placed under the jurisdiction of the nearby abbey ofSaint Léonard. At that time, Guînes comprised three parishes within its walls, whose churches were dedicated toSaint Bertin,Saint Pierre andSaint Médard. Outside the town ramparts were the abbey of Saint Léonard, the church of Saint-Blaise, in the hamlet of Melleke, and the leper-house of Saint Quentin, in the hamlet of Spelleke in Tournepuits.
At the end of the 11th century, Baldwin I, Count of Guînes, built a hugestone castle on top of Sigfrid's old keep and enclosed the town within a stone wall, with defensive towers at each of the entrances. His brotherFulk was a participant in theFirst Crusade. In 1180, Guînes was passed together with Ardres, Arras and Saint-Omer to the French crown as part of the dowry of Isabel of Hainaut when she marriedPhilip II of France.[6]
On 22 January 1351, three years after the capture ofCalais byEdward III, the castle of Guînes was delivered up to the English. In 1360, theTreaty of Brétigny surrendered the city and its county to England and they eventually became part of thePale of Calais, the last English possession in mainland France. The "Field of the Cloth of Gold", whereHenry VIII of England andFrancis I of France met in 1520, was atBalinghem in the immediate neighbourhood.
When the French captured the port of Calais in January 1558, Guînes held out, by the courageous efforts of the English commander,William Grey, 13th Baron Grey de Wilton. After a few days of desperate fighting, however, Grey was wounded and his soldiers refused to fight on. The French gave honourable terms of surrender and English rule of the area came to an end.
The inhabitants are calledGuinois.
| Year | Pop. | ±% p.a. |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | 4,984 | — |
| 1975 | 5,034 | +0.14% |
| 1982 | 5,174 | +0.39% |
| 1990 | 5,105 | −0.17% |
| 1999 | 5,221 | +0.25% |
| 2007 | 5,302 | +0.19% |
| 2012 | 5,754 | +1.65% |
| 2017 | 5,626 | −0.45% |
| Source: INSEE[7] | ||
On 25 May 1785 a column was erected to commemorateJean-Pierre Blanchard's crossing of the English Channel by hydrogen balloon on 7 January 1785. (50°50′31″N1°52′02″E / 50.841997365°N 1.86734124246°E /50.841997365; 1.86734124246 (Jean-Pierre Blanchard)). The inscription reads as follows, here translated into English:
TheChemin de fer d'Anvin à Calais opened a railway station at Guînes in 1881.[8] The railway was closed in 1955.[9]
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