View source for Bayeux

{{short description|Subprefecture and commune in Normandy, France}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox French commune
|name               = Bayeux
|commune status     = [[Subprefectures in France|Subprefecture]] and [[Communes of France|commune]]
|image coat of arms = Blason Bayeux.svg
|image              = Bayeux centre.jpg
|caption            = The historic centre, the [[Bayeux Cathedral]], the [[Aure (river)|Aure]] and tourist office
|arrondissement     = Bayeux
|canton             = Bayeux
|INSEE              = 14047
|postal code        = 14400
|mayor              = Patrick Gomont<ref>{{cite web|title=Répertoire national des élus: les maires|url=https://www.data.gouv.fr/fr/datasets/r/2876a346-d50c-4911-934e-19ee07b0e503|website=data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises|date=2 December 2020|language=fr}}</ref>
|term               = 2020–2026
|intercommunality   = [[Communauté de communes de Bayeux Intercom|CC Bayeux Intercom]]
|coordinates        = {{coord|49.2794|-0.7028|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation m        =
|elevation min m    = 32
|elevation max m    = 67
|area km2           = 7.11
|population         = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_total}}
|population date    = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}}
|population footnotes   = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}}
}}

'''Bayeux''' ({{IPAc-en|UK|b|aɪ|ˈ|j|ɜː|,_|b|eɪ|-}}, {{IPAc-en|US|ˈ|b|eɪ|j|uː|,_|ˈ|b|aɪ|-}} {{respell|B(A)Y|yoo}}; {{IPA|fr|bajø|lang|LL-Q150 (fra)-fleur (Beat Ruest)-Bayeux.wav}}) is a [[Communes of France|commune]] in the [[Calvados (department)|Calvados]] [[Departments of France|department]] in [[Normandy (administrative region)|Normandy]] in northwestern [[France]].

Bayeux is the home of the [[Bayeux Tapestry]], which depicts the events leading up to the [[Norman Conquest]] of England in 1066. It is also known as the first major town secured by the Allies during [[Operation Overlord]] after [[D-Day]]. [[Charles de Gaulle]] made [[Bayeux speeches (disambiguation)|two famous speeches]] in this town.

==Administration==
Bayeux is a [[Subprefectures in France|sub-prefecture]] of Calvados. It is the seat of the [[arrondissement]] of Bayeux and of the [[cantons of France|canton]] of Bayeux.

==Geography==
Bayeux is located {{convert|7|km|0|abbr=off}} from the coast of the English Channel and {{convert|30|km|0|abbr=on}} north-west of [[Caen]]. The city, with elevations varying from {{convert|32|to|67|m|0|abbr=off}} [[Above mean sea level|above sea level]] – with an average of {{convert|46|m|0|abbr=off}} – is bisected by the [[Aure (river)|River Aure]]. Bayeux is located at the crossroads of [[Route nationale 13|RN 13]] and the train route Paris-Caen-[[Cherbourg]]. The city is the capital of the [[Bessin]], which extends north-west of [[Calvados (department)|Calvados]]. [[Bayeux station]] has rail connections to Caen, Cherbourg, Granville and Paris.

The river [[Aure (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 centre of Bayeux, higher surface speeds are generated. In the centre 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 centimetre. Turbidity was measured at 13 centimetres by the [[Secchi disk]] method. At this point of reference, flows are generally of the order of {{convert|50|cuft/s|m3/s}}.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

The [[Bajocian]] Age in the [[Jurassic]] Period of geological time takes its name from the Latinised name of the inhabitants of Bayeux (the Bajocassi).{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

==Etymology==
The city was known as '''Augustodurum''' in the [[Roman Empire]]. It means the ''durum'' (Celtic word ''duro-'' 'door', 'gate', Welsh ''{{lang|cy|dor}}'', Breton ''{{lang|br|dor}}'' 'door', 'gate') dedicated to [[Augustus]], Roman Emperor. The Celtic word ''duron'', Latinised as ''durum'', was probably used to translate the Latin word ''[[Forum (Roman)|forum]]'' (Compare [[Fréjus]] ''Forum Julii'', dedicated to Julius (Caesar)).<ref>[[:fr:Pierre-Yves Lambert]], ''La langue gauloise'', éditions errance 1994.</ref>

In the Late Empire it took the name of the Celtic tribe who lived here: the ''Bodiocassi'', Latinized in ''Bajocassi'', ''[[Bajocasses]]'', and this word explains the place-names Bayeux and [[Bessin]]. ''Bodiocassi'' has been compared with Old Irish ''{{lang|sga|Buidechass}}'' 'with blond locks'.<ref>Xavier Delamarre, ''Dictionnaire de la langue Gauloise'', éditions errance 2003.</ref>

==History==

===Origins===
<!--[[:fr:Bayeux#Histoire|Translated from the corresponding article on French Wikipedia]]-->
Founded as a Gallo-Roman settlement in the 1st century BC under the name Augustodurum, Bayeux is the capital of the former territory of the [[Baiocasses]] people of Gaul, whose name appears in [[Natural History (Pliny)|Pliny's ''Natural History'']] (iv.107). Evidence of earlier human occupation of the territory comes from fortified Celtic camps, but there is no evidence of any major pre-existing Celtic town before the organization of Gaul in Roman ''[[Civitas|civitates]]''. Any settlement was more likely confined to scattered Druid huts along the banks of the Aure and Drome rivers or on Mount Phaunus where they worshipped. Cemeteries have been found on the nearby Mount Phaunus indicating the area as a Druid centre. Titus Sabinus, a lieutenant of [[Julius Caesar]], subjected the Bessin region to Roman domination. The 5th-century ''[[Notitia provinciarum et civitatum Galliae]]'' mentions [[Suevi]] that had been officially settled here (''[[laeti]]'').<ref>''Laeti Suevorum'', noted in Jean Roemer, ''Origins of the English People and the English Language'', p. 207 note 2.</ref>

The town is mentioned by [[Ptolemy]], writing in the reign of Antoninus Pius, under the name ''Noemagus Biducassium'' (for ''*Noviomagus Badiocassium'' 'New market of the Badiocassi') and remained so until the time of the Roman Empire. The main street was already the heart of the city. Two baths, under the Church of St. Lawrence and the post office in rue Laitière, and a sculpted head of the goddess Minerva have been found, attesting to the adoption of Roman culture. In 1990 a closer examination of huge blocks discovered in the cathedral in the 19th century indicated the presence of an old Roman building. Bayeux was built on a crossroads between [[Lisieux]] and [[Valognes]], developing first on the west bank of the river. By the end of the 3rd century a walled enclosure surrounded the city and remained until it was removed in the 18th century. Its layout is still visible and can be followed today. The citadel of the city was located in the southwest corner, and the cathedral in the southeast. An important city in Normandy, Bayeux was part of the coastal defence of the Roman Empire against the pirates of the region, and a Roman legion was stationed there.

===Middle Ages===
[[File:BayeuxTapestryScene22.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.8|Bayeux (Bagias), depicted in [[Bayeux Tapestry tituli#22|scene 22]] of the [[Bayeux Tapestry]], which is housed in the town]]
The city was largely destroyed during the [[Viking expansion|Viking raids]] of the late 9th century but was rebuilt in the early 10th century under the reign of Bothon. In the middle of the 10th century Bayeux was controlled by [[Hagrold]], a pagan Viking who defended the city against the Franks. The 12th-century poet [[Benoît de Saint-Maure]], in his verse history of the dukes of Normandy, remarked on the "Danish" commonly spoken at Bayeux in the 10th century.<ref>Benoît, ''Chronique'': "Mais a Baiues en a tanz/ Qui ne sevent si daneis non."</ref>

The 11th century saw the creation of five villages beyond the walls to the northeast, evidence of its growth during [[Duchy of Normandy|Ducal Normandy]]. [[William the Conqueror]]'s half brother [[Odo of Bayeux]] completed the cathedral in the city and it was dedicated in 1077. However the city began to lose prominence when William placed his capital at [[Caen]]. When King [[Henry I of England]] defeated his brother [[Robert Curthose]] for the rule of Normandy, the city was burned to set an example to the rest of the duchy. Under [[Richard the Lionheart]], Bayeux was wealthy enough to purchase a [[municipal charter]]. From the end of Richard's reign to the end of the [[Hundred Years' War]], Bayeux was repeatedly pillaged until [[Henry V of England]] captured the city in 1417. After the [[Battle of Formigny]], [[Charles VII of France]] recaptured the city and granted a general amnesty to its populace in 1450. The capture of Bayeux heralded a return to prosperity as new families replaced those decimated by war, and they built some 60 mansions scattered throughout the city, with stone supplanting wood.

===Post-medieval===
The area around Bayeux is called the Bessin, which was the [[bailiwick]] of the province Normandy until the [[French Revolution]]. 
[[File:British troops marching through Bayeux in Normandy, 27 June 1944. B6058.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|British troops marching through Bayeux, 27 June 1944. [[Bayeux Cathedral]] is in the background.]]

During the [[Second World War]], Bayeux was the first city of the [[Operation Overlord|Battle of Normandy]] to be liberated on 7 June by British troops of [[50th (Northumbrian) Infantry Division]] with only light resistance. On 16 June 1944 General [[Charles de Gaulle]] made [[First Bayeux speech|the first of two major speeches 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. Bayeux nevertheless became an important hub for the allies - military vehicles found difficulty moving through the narrow medieval streets. In late June the [[Royal Engineers]] and [[Royal Pioneer Corps|Pioneer Corps]] built a road around the town, the 'Bayeux Bypass' – to facilitate the flow of traffic.

The [[Bayeux War Cemetery]] with its memorial includes the largest British cemetery dating from the Second World War in France. There are 4,648 graves, including 3,935 British and 466 Germans. Most of those buried there were killed in the invasion of Normandy in 1944.
[[File:Bayeux-centre-ville.jpg|thumb|right|320px|Bayeux city centre (2011)]]

[[The Royal British Legion|Royal British Legion National]], every 5 June at 1530 hrs, attends the 3rd Division Cean Memorial Service and beating retreat ceremony. On 6 June, it holds a remembrance service in [[Bayeux Cathedral]] starting at 1015 hrs, and later at 1200 hrs, the Royal British Legion National holds a service of remembrance at the Bayeux Cemetery. All services are open to the public, all Standards [[The Royal British Legion|RBL]], NVA, [[Royal Navy|RN]], [[British Army|ARMY]], and [[Royal Air Force|RAF]] service and Regimental Associations are welcome to attend and parade. Details can be found at [https://web.archive.org/web/20120326180301/http://www.rblsomme.org/ www.rblsomme.org]

Bayeux is also the home of a memorial to all [[journalist]]s who have lost their lives while reporting. The memorial was designed by Samuel Craquelin, who is a French architect. The memorial lists the names of 1,889 journalists killed between 1944 and 2007. The memorial was established in conjunction with the organisation [[Reporters Without Borders]] and is located in Bayeux because of its historic liberation on 7 June 1944. It was inaugurated on 2 May 2007.<ref name=bayeux>{{cite web |url=http://en.rsf.org/the-french-town-of-bayeux-and-03-05-2007,21777 |title=The French town of Bayeux and Reporters Without Borders inaugurate a journalists memorial on the eve of World Freedom Day |publisher=Reporters Without Borders |date=2007-05-03 |access-date=2013-02-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140109061100/http://en.rsf.org/the-french-town-of-bayeux-and-03-05-2007%2C21777 |archive-date=2014-01-09}}</ref>

==Population==

The inhabitants of Bayeux are called ''Bayeusains'' {{IPA|fr|bajøzɛ̃|}} or ''Bajocasses'' {{IPA|fr|baʒokas|}}.<ref>[https://www.habitants.fr/calvados-14 Calvados], habitants.fr</ref>
{{Historical populations
|align = none
|cols = 2
|percentages = pagr
|source = EHESS<ref name=ehess>{{Cassini-Ehess|3032|Bayeux}}</ref> and INSEE (1968-2017)<ref name=pophist>[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-14047#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE</ref>
|graph-pos = bottom
|1793 |10578
|1800 |9600
|1806 |10419
|1821 |10280
|1831 |10303
|1836 |10242
|1841 |9840
|1846 |9765
|1851 |9360
|1856 |9667
|1861 |9483
|1866 |9138
|1872 |8536
|1876 |8614
|1881 |8357
|1886 |8347
|1891 |8102
|1896 |7912
|1901 |7806
|1906 |7736
|1911 |7638
|1921 |7206
|1926 |7525
|1931 |7351
|1936 |7637
|1946 |10246
|1954 |10077
|1962 |9678
|1968 |11451
|1975 |13457
|1982 |14721
|1990 |14704
|1999 |14961
|2007 |13911
|2012 |13674
|2017 |13121
|2020 |12640
}}

==Sights==
[[File:Bayeux Cathedral.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|right|[[Bayeux Cathedral]] seen from the east.]]
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 in 1066. According to French tradition, the tapestry was made by the attendants of [[Matilda of Flanders]], wife of William the Conqueror. It was almost certainly designed and stitched in England, as evidenced by its English spellings.<ref>''World Book Encyclopedia'', p. 177, World Book Inc.</ref> It is displayed in a museum in the town centre. The large [[Norman architecture|Norman]]-[[Romanesque architecture|Romanesque]] and [[Gothic architecture|Gothic]] [[Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Bayeux]],<ref>[http://france-for-visitors.com/normandy/bayeux/index.html Cathedral of Bayeux: France Tourism Summaries]</ref> consecrated in 1077, was probably the original home of the tapestry, where William's half-brother [[Odo of Bayeux]] (represented on the tapestry wielding a wooden club at the [[Battle of Hastings]]) would have had it displayed.

The [[Jardin botanique de Bayeux]] is a local [[botanical garden]] dating from 1864.

{{clear left}}

<gallery caption="Pictures" widths="180px" heights="120px" perrow="5">
File:Bayeux 022 20A.JPG|Near the [[William the Conqueror|Centre Guillaume le Conquérant]]
File:03JUL2001 France Bayeux10.jpg|Streets of Bayeux
File:Bayeuxcemetery01.jpg|Main entrance to [[Bayeux War Cemetery]]
File:Bayeuxcemetery02.jpg|The [[Cross of Sacrifice]] in cemetery
File:Liberation memorial plaque in Bayeux.jpg|Liberation memorial plaque in Bayeux
</gallery>

==Personalities==
* [[Muriel Barbery]] (born 1965), writer
* [[Berengar II of Neustria]] (died AD 896), Count of Bayeux
* [[Roger Bésus]] (1915–1994), sculptor and writer
* [[Frédéric Née]] (born 1975), footballer
* [[Alain Chartier]] (1392–1430), politician and poet
* [[Adrien Closmenil]] (born 2007), racing driver
* [[Pierre Du Bosc]] (1623–1692), preacher
* [[Franck Dumas]] (born 1968), footballer and coach [[SM Caen|Stade Malherbe de Caen]]
* [[Jean-Léonce Dupont]] (born 1955), senator and former mayor
* [[Arcisse de Caumont]] (1801–1873), archaeologist, founded the Societé des Antiquaires de Normandy
* [[François de Caumont]] (1768–1848), designer and painter
* [[Miss George]] (1787–1867), actress and mistress of [[Napoleon]]
* [[Georges Lenepveu]] (1857–1923), inventor and master glassmaker
* [[François Gérard]] (1770–1837), painter and member of Bayeux
* [[Jean Grémillon]] (1901–1959), film director
* [[Joachim Rupalley]] (1718–1780) painter
* [[Édouard Lair de Beauvais]], (1790–1851), architect
* [[Alfred Lair de Beauvais]] (1820–1869), organist and composer
* [[Robert Lefèvre]] (1755–1830), painter
* [[Lionel Lemonchois]] (born 1960), navigator
* [[Léon Le Cieux]] (1821–1873), violinist
* [[Damien Letulle]] (born 1973), Olympic archer
* [[Gabriel-Narcisse Rupalley]] (1745–1798), painter
* [[Saint Marcouf]] (died AD 588), saint born in Bayeux, best known for the healing of [[scrofula]]
* [[Éric Navet]] (born 1959), jockey
* [[Poppa of Bayeux]], wife of [[Rollo]]
* [[Saint Vigor]] (died AD 537), bishop of Bayeux from 513 to 537, destroyed a pagan temple in Bayeux
* [[William the Conqueror]] (1028-1087), Duke of Normandy, King of England
* [[Exuperius]], (end of 4th century– died c. 410) [[Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toulouse|Archbishop]] of Toulouse.
* [[Alfred-Georges Regner]] (1902–1987), painter-engraver

==International relations==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in France}}

Bayeux is [[twin towns and sister cities|twinned]] with:<ref>{{cite web |title=Les villes jumelles|url=https://www.bayeux.fr/fr/vivre-bayeux/les-villes-jumelles|website=bayeux.fr|publisher=Bayeux|language=fr|access-date=2019-11-21}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
* {{flagicon|GBR}} [[Dorchester, Dorset|Dorchester]] in [[Dorset]], United Kingdom
* {{flagicon|GER}} [[Lübbecke]], Germany
* {{flagicon|POL}} [[Chojnice]], Poland
* {{flagicon|NED}} [[Eindhoven]], Netherlands
* {{flagicon|NOR}} [[Voss]], Norway
{{div col end}}

==Climate==

{{Weather box|width=auto
|metric first=y
|single line=y 
|collapsed = Y
|location =  Bayeaux ([[Vaubadon]]) (2000–2014 normals, extremes 2000–present)
|Jan record high C = 15.0
|Feb record high C = 17.1
|Mar record high C = 20.6
|Apr record high C = 24.8
|May record high C = 31.3
|Jun record high C = 32.8
|Jul record high C = 33.7
|Aug record high C = 37.9
|Sep record high C = 32.2
|Oct record high C = 28.1
|Nov record high C = 19.5
|Dec record high C = 16.6
|Jan record low C = -8.6
|Feb record low C = -10.0
|Mar record low C = -7.1
|Apr record low C = -2.8
|May record low C = 0.4
|Jun record low C = 3.1
|Jul record low C = 6.2
|Aug record low C = 6.1
|Sep record low C = 3.1
|Oct record low C = -0.7
|Nov record low C = -6.3
|Dec record low C = -7.7
|Jan high C = 8.0
|Feb high C = 8.5
|Mar high C = 11.1
|Apr high C = 14.1
|May high C = 16.9
|Jun high C = 20.2
|Jul high C = 22.0
|Aug high C = 22.2
|Sep high C = 19.9
|Oct high C = 16.2
|Nov high C = 11.7
|Dec high C = 8.4
| year high C = 14.9
|Jan mean C = 5.4
|Feb mean C = 5.6
|Mar mean C = 7.4
|Apr mean C = 9.9
|May mean C = 12.6
|Jun mean C = 15.6
|Jul mean C = 17.4
|Aug mean C = 17.6
|Sep mean C = 15.5
|Oct mean C = 12.7
|Nov mean C = 8.8
|Dec mean C = 5.7
| year mean C = 11.2
|Jan low C = 2.8
|Feb low C = 2.7
|Mar low C = 3.8
|Apr low C = 5.6
|May low C = 8.4
|Jun low C = 11.1
|Jul low C = 12.8
|Aug low C = 13.0
|Sep low C = 11.0
|Oct low C = 9.2
|Nov low C = 5.9
|Dec low C = 3.0
| year low C = 7.4
|precipitation colour = green
|Jan precipitation mm = 92.9
|Feb precipitation mm = 75.6
|Mar precipitation mm = 73.6
|Apr precipitation mm = 57.4
|May precipitation mm = 64.8
|Jun precipitation mm = 60.5
|Jul precipitation mm = 57.5
|Aug precipitation mm = 76.2
|Sep precipitation mm = 55.7
|Oct precipitation mm = 101.3
|Nov precipitation mm = 104.2
|Dec precipitation mm = 104.6
|year precipitation mm = 924.3
|unit precipitation days = 1.0 mm
| Jan precipitation days = 15.9
| Feb precipitation days = 13.4
| Mar precipitation days = 12.8
| Apr precipitation days = 9.7
| May precipitation days = 10.9
| Jun precipitation days = 8.4
| Jul precipitation days = 9.4
| Aug precipitation days = 10.4
| Sep precipitation days = 8.8
| Oct precipitation days = 14.0
| Nov precipitation days = 15.7
| Dec precipitation days = 16.1
| year precipitation days =145.5
|source 1 = Meteociel<ref>{{cite web
|url=https://www.meteociel.fr/obs/clim/normales_records.php?code=14727001
|title=Normales et records pour Vaubadon (14)
|publisher=Meteociel
|access-date=17 November 2024}}</ref>}}

==See also==
* [[Communes of the Calvados department]]
* [[Bayeux, Brazil]]
* [[Liberation of France]]
* [[Roman Catholic Diocese of Bayeux]]

==References==

{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
{{wikivoyage|Bayeux}}
* [http://www.mairie-bayeux.fr/ Official Web site]
* [http://www.bessin-normandie.com/ Tourist office Web site]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070311013707/http://www.westfordconnection.com/Photos/France/bayeux/index.htm Minosh Photography]
* [https://maps.google.com/maps?ll=49.279861,-0.704842&spn=0.041096,0.059197&t=k&hl=en Satellite photo on Google Maps]
* [https://www.flickr.com/photos/d4rr3ll/11607358/in/set-311646/ British War Cemetery]

{{Calvados communes}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Bayeux| ]]
[[Category:Communes of Calvados (department)]]
[[Category:Subprefectures in France]]
[[Category:Baiocasses]]
[[Category:Gallia Lugdunensis]]
[[Category:Bajocian| ]]