Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados.

Caen is located in the centre of its northern region, and it is a centre of political, economic and cultural power. Located a few miles from the coast, the landing beaches, the bustling resorts of Deauville and Cabourg, as well as Norman Switzerland and Pays d’Auge.

Caen is known for its historical buildings built during the reign of William the Conqueror, who was buried there, and for the Battle for Caen, heavy fighting that took place in and around Caen during the Battle of Normandy in 1944, destroying much of the city. The city has now preserved the memory by erecting a memorial and a museum dedicated to peace, the Mémorial de Caen.

Geography

Caen is in an area of high humidity. The Orne River flows through the city, as well as small rivers known as les Odons, most of which have been buried under the city to improve urban hygiene.

Caen is 10 kilometres (6.2 miles) from the Channel. A canal (Canal de Caen à la Mer) parallel to the Orne was built during the reign of Napoleon III to link the city to the sea at all times. The canal reaches the English Channel at Ouistreham.

Main sights

Abbeys

In repentance for marrying his cousin Mathilda of Flanders, William ordered two abbeys to be built on the Pope’s encouragement:

• Eglise St.-Etienne, formerly the Abbaye aux Hommes (Men’s Abbey). The current Hôtel de Ville (town hall) of Caen is built onto the South Transept of the building.
• Eglise de la Ste.-Trinité, formerly the Abbaye aux Dames (Women’s Abbey). The current seat of the regional council (conseil régional) of Basse-Normandie is nearby.

Others:

• The castle, Château de Caen,
• Jardin botanique de Caen, a historic botanical garden
• Church of Saint-Pierre
• Church of Saint-Étienne-le-Vieux
• Mémorial pour la Paix 
• Parc Festyland, an amusement park to the west of Caen in the nearby town of Carpiquet.
• Mondeville 2 
• Colline aux Oiseaux, a floral parc located on the former dump of the city of Caen

Transport

Caen has a very efficient network of city buses, operated under the name Twisto. The city is connected to the rest of the Calvados département by the Bus Verts du Calvados bus network.

Caen – Carpiquet Airport is the biggest airport in Normandy considering the number of passengers and flights that it serves every year. In the summer there are many flights to Spain, Germany, Tunisia, Morocco and Algeria.

Caen is served by the large port of Ouistreham, lying at the mouth of the Caen Canal where it meets the English Channel. A cruise/ferry service operates between Portsmouth, England, and Caen/Ouistreham running both standard roll-on-roll-off car ferries and supercat fast ferries, with the latter making crossing from March to November.

Education

• The University of Caen has around 30,000 students in five different campuses. The University is divided into 11 colleges, called UFR (Unité fondamentale de Recherche), six institutes, one Engineering School, two IUP and five local campuses.
• Caen also has a school of fine arts L’ésam Caen/Cherbourg and grandes écoles such as the École nationale supérieure d’ingénieurs de Caen.
• A campus of the business school École de management de Normandie is also located in the city.

Economy

The agricultural and food-processing Agrial cooperative has its head office on Caen. Agrial group processes vegetables, cider apples, milk, poultry and meat with the help of its 12,000 employees and all its partners.

Music and theatre

The Théâtre de Caen (1963) is the home of the Baroque musical ensemble Les Arts Florissants.

Sport

From 1947 to 2006, Caen was a stage of the Tour de France a total of 15 times. The city has a football team, SM Caen. In 2014, Caen was the location of the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games.

Climate

Caen has an oceanic climate that is somewhat ameliorated due to its slightly inland position. In spite of this, summers are still cool by French standards and the climate is typically maritime in terms of high precipitation, relatively modest sunshine hours and mild winters.