Burghers of Calais

Calais

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In front of Calais' ornate Hôtel de Ville stands the first cast of Rodin's famous sculpture Les Bourgeois de Calais (The Burghers of Calais; 1889), which portrays six local leaders (burghers) in 1347 as they surrender to besieging English forces, knowing that they will soon be executed – but hoping that their sacrifice will mean their fellow Calaisiens will be spared.

Edward III's wife, Philippa of Hainault, persuaded the English king that killing the hostages would be bad karma, so in the end both the brave burghers and the people of Calais survived.

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Nearby Calais attractions

1. Hôtel de Ville

0.04 MILES

Inaugurated in 1925, Calais' Hôtel de Ville (city hall) melds Flemish and Renaissance styles, as does its 78m-high, Unesco-listed beffroi (belfry) topped…

2. Musée Mémoire 1939–1945

0.17 MILES

Housed in a massive concrete bunker built as a German naval headquarters, this WWII museum displays thousands of period artefacts, including weapons,…

4. Plage de Calais

1.11 MILES

Children can splash in the shallow, clear waters of Calais' cabin-lined city beach (patrolled by lifeguards in summer), while its fine sand is ideal for…

5. Blériot Plage

2.89 MILES

This broad, gently sloping sandy beach stretching for 8km is safe for swimming and gets packed in summer.

6. Cap Blanc-Nez

6.54 MILES

Southwest of Calais, just past Sangatte, the coastal dunes give way to cliffs that culminate in windswept, 134m-high Cap Blanc-Nez, which affords…

7. Brasserie Artisanale des 2 Caps

11.04 MILES

Historic farm buildings deep in the countryside house one of northern France's best artisan breweries, established in 2003. Sample and buy here, or look…

8. Cap Gris-Nez

13.01 MILES

Topped by a lighthouse and a radar station that keeps track of the hundreds of ships that pass by here each day, the 49m-high cliffs of Cap Gris-Nez are…