Coordinates: 49°16′46″N 0°42′10″W / 49.279445°N 0.702778°W
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Commune of Bayeux |
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  Bayeux Cathedral |
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| Location | |
 
Bayeux
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| Administration | |
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| Country | France |
| Region | Basse-Normandie |
| Department | Calvados |
| Arrondissement | Bayeux |
| Canton | Bayeux |
| Intercommunality | Bayeux Intercom |
| Statistics | |
| Elevation | 32–67 m (100–220 ft) |
| Land area1 | 7.11 km2 (2.75 sq mi) |
| Population2 | 14,961 (1999) |
| - Density | 2,104 /km2 (5,450 /sq mi) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 14047/ 14400 |
| 1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
| 2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once. | |
Bayeux (French pronunciation: [bajø]) is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy in north-western France.
Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, one of the oldest surviving complete tapestries in the world.[1]
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Bayeux is a sub-prefecture of Calvados. It is the seat of the arrondissement of Bayeux and of the canton of Bayeux.
Bayeux is located seven kilometres from the coast of La Manche (English Channel) and 30 km north-west of Caen. The city, with elevations varying from 32 to 67 meters above sea level – with an average of 46 meters above sea level – is bisected by the river Aure. Bayeux is located at the crossroads of RN 13 and the train route Paris-Caen-Cherbourg. The city is the capital of the Bessin, which extends north-west of Calvados.
The area around Bayeux is called the Bessin, which was a province of France until the French Revolution. The name of the city and the region come from the Celtic tribe inhabiting the Bajocasses region. During the Second World War, Bayeux was the first city in France to be liberated during the Battle of Normandy, and on 16 June 1944 General Charles de Gaulle made his first major speech in Bayeux in which he made clear that France sided with the Allies. The buildings in Bayeux were virtually untouched during the Battle of Normandy, the German forces being fully involved in defending Caen from the Allies.
The Bayeux War Cemetery with its memorial includes the largest British cemetery dating from the Second World War in France. There are 4648 graves, including 3935 British and 466 Germans. Most of those buried there were killed in the invasion of Normandy.
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the arms of Bayeux are blazoned : |
The river Aure flows through Bayeux, offering panoramic views from a number of locations. The Aure has a relatively high level of turbidity and the speed of its brownish water is moderate because of the slight slope of the watercourse, although where it is narrow in places like the center of Bayeux, higher surface speeds are generated. In the center of Bayeux near the Bayeux Tapestry Museum, pH levels were measured at 8.35 and the electrical conductivity of water was tested at 37 microsiemens per centimeter. Turbidity was measured at 13 centimeters by the Secchi disk method. At this point of reference, flows are generally of the order of 50 cubic feet per second.[2]
Bayeux is a major tourist attraction, best known to British and French visitors for the Bayeux tapestry, made to commemorate events in the Norman Conquest of England in1066. The tapestry was made by Reine Mathilde, wife of William the Conqueror, and may have been woven in England.[3] It is displayed in a museum in the town centre. The large Norman-Romanesque Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Bayeux,[4] consecrated in 1077, was arguably the original home of the tapestry.
The Jardin botanique de Bayeux is a botanical garden dating from 1864.
 Near the Centre Guillaume le Conquérant |
 Streets of Bayeux |
 Main entrance to Bayeux War Cemetery |
 The Cross of Sacrifice in cemetery |
Bayeux [1] is a small town (population 16,000) in northern France within the region of Basse-Normandie. Bayeux is best known for the remarkable Bayeux Tapestry that chronicles in visual form the conquest of England by William the Conquerer, Duke of Normandy, in 1066.
Bayeux is known for two famous trans-Channel invasions. The conquest of England by William the Conqueror in 1066 started from Bayeux, while on June 6th, 1944 the Allied D-Day (French: Jour-J) invasion force struck the beaches just north of the town. Bayeux was the first French town to be liberated from Nazi occupation during the 1944 Battle of Normandy and survived almost completely unscathed. On 16 June 1946 General Charles de Gaulle made his first important speech on liberated French soil in Bayeux. The town hosts the largest British war cemetery in Normandy and is an excellent base for visiting the Normandy beaches.
Bayeux can be accessed by train through the SNCF rail system. If your trip originates at the central rail hub in Paris (at gare du nord), look for trains that list Caen as an intermediate destination.
Most of the town can be navigated by foot after arriving at the train station, even with a wheeled suitcase. The 'downtown', a ten minute walk from the train station, mostly lines the main street which seemed to change names a few times as it goes along.
Streets are narrow and uneven and often cobblestone or similar, so bring comfortable footwear (especially if going on local expedition tours -- see below for more information).
The Bayeux Tapestry (Tapisserie de Bayeux), Centre Guillaume le Conquérant, Rue de Nesmond, tel 02 31 51 25 50, fax 02 31 51 25 59, open daily all year, except for the 2nd week in January, 24-26 December, 31 Dec-2 Jan, hours: (mid-March-October) 9am-6.30pm (summer an extra half hour) (November-February) 9.30am-12.30pm and 2pm-6pm, admission: adults €7.50, students €3 - the historically unique Bayeux Tapestry is a 70 metre-long, 50 cm high embroidery made from wool on a linen canvas in the late 11th century to chronicle the conquest of England by William the Conquerer, Duke of Normandy, in 1066. Scenes include the Channel crossing, the Battle of Hastings (14 October 1066), the death of the Saxon English king Harold and the subsequent coronation of Duke William as King of England. Audioguides available. Allow 1-2 hours to visit.
The Bayeux Cathedral towers over the entire town, and is interesting to circle around outside and explore inside. The exterior is surrounded by the occasional helpful informational signage on stone or wood blocks, each explaining aspects of the church's construction or architectural features. The interior has some excellent views of the architecture, statues and murals, and there are several (empty) crypts you can visit beneath the church. Open for touring during the daytime hours (when no church services are in session), and definitely worth a visit.
Internet access in Bayeux was sparse and hard to find (as of Summer 2007). The only places to access the net were advised to be at the central local tourist bureau (located roughly in the center of town, on the main winding cobblestone street), or at a nearby Novotel hotel for great expense (also unconfirmed). Hotel D'Argouges (see below) now states on their website that they have internet access, but this was not present in Summer 2007. Plan accordingly for your needs.
Shopping in Bayeux is a sensible combination of French authenticity and touristic gaudiness--almost at a one-to-one ratio. Shops toward centreville (the downtown center) tend to be more overpriced than some of their counterparts about 3 km (1.8 mi) north.
Food can be procured for as little or as much as you wish: the main boulevard through town is lined with boulangeries and even a supermarket near the south end of town.
World War II Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, [5]. (Take Highway N-13 west to Formigny, then follow D-517 to St. Laurent-sur-Mer and D-514 to Colleville-sur-Mer). Open daily, 9:00AM-5:00PM except for December 25 and January 1. The cemetery is the final resting place for 9,387 American military dead, most lost during the Normandy Invasion. A monument is inscribed with the names of 1,557 Americans whose remains were never found or identified. The memorial contains maps and narratives of the military operations in Normandy. Free.
Guided Tours of World War II Historic Sites (There are several guided tour companies in the area; Bayeux has a central designated meeting spot where all of the tours embark from in the morning and return to each afternoon). Battlebus provided excellent tours on our trip to Normandy. Having a guide was extremely helpful and efficient to zip us around to the various sights through the backroads of rural France. They offer tours of sights including the nearby Utah Beach, Omaha Beach, Juno Beach, the Canadian Juno Beach Museum, the Canadian Cemetery, the American Cemetery (above) and countless other hard-to-find sites. Tours offered are divided into zones of coverage (American, British, Canadian, and others), as each zone is fairly large. A one-day American tour and a one-day Canadian tour give you a good overview of most of the highlights the region has to offer. Guides are experienced, interested, and respectful of the great history of the region. Stellar for history buffs and laypersons alike. Tour guides even kindly gave us a lift from our hotel to the train station at the end of a day of touring when we were leaving town! Tours should be booked in advance, as they tend to fill quickly, especially in the summer months. Other tour companies also service the region.
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Category: Outline articles
BAYEUX, a town of north-western France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Calvados, 18 m. N.W. of Caen on the Western railway. Pop. (1906) 6930. Bayeux is situated on the Aure, 5 m. from the English Channel. Its majestic cathedral was built in the 13th century on the site of a Romanesque church, to which the lateral arcades of the nave and the two western towers with their high stone spires belonged.
A third and still loftier tower, the upper part of which, in the florid Gothic style, is modern, surmounts the crossing. The chancel, surrounded with radiating chapels, is a fine example of early Gothic. Underneath it there is a crypt of the i i th century restored in the 15th century. The oak stalls in the choir are fine examples of late 16th-century carving. The former bishop's palace, parts of which are of great age though the main building is of the 28th century, serves as law-court and hotel de ville. Bayeux possesses many quaint, timbered houses and stone mansions in its quiet streets. The museum contains the celebrated Bayeux tapestry (see below). The town is the seat of a bishop and of a sub-prefect; it has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, an ecclesiastical seminary, a communal college and a chamber of arts and manufactures. Dyeing, leatherdressing, lace-making and the manufacture of porcelain for household and laboratory purposes are carried on.
Till the 4th century Bayeux bore the name of Augustodurum, but afterwards, when it became the capital of the two tribes of the Baiocasses and Viducasses, took the name of Civitas Baiocassium. Its bishopric dates from the latter half of the 4th century. Before the Norman invasion it was governed by counts. Taken in 890 by the Scandinavian chief, Rollo, it was soon after peopled by the Normans and became a residence of the dukes of Normandy, one of whom, Richard I., built about 960 a castle which survived till the 18th century. During the quarrels between the sons of William the Conqueror it was pillaged and sacked by Henry I. in 1106, and in later times it underwent siege and capture on several occasions during the Hundred Years' War and the religious wars of the 26th century. Till 1790 it was the capital of the Bessin, a district of lower Normandy.
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Bayeux
   | Tourist office website - Redirection Bessin Normandie |
| | City council website - Site de la ville de Bayeux: Accueil |
| | here - Bayeux British Military Cemetery on Flickr - Photo Sharing! |
| | Bayeux Tapestry Generator - Historic Tale Construction Kit |
| | The Battle of Normandy:The Memory - Bayeux and St-Vigor-le-Grand in Normandy 1944 |
| | Bayeux Tapestry description - Britain's Bayeux Tapestry - Contents Page |
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