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Saint-Omer
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Saint-Omer (Sint-Omaars in Dutch), a town and commune of Artois in northern France, sous-préfecture of the Pas-de-Calais département, 68 km westnorthwest of Lille on the railway to Calais. The town is named after Saint Audomare (Omer) (d. ca. 670 AD), who brought Christianity to the area.
The canalised portion of the river Aa begins at Saint-Omer, reaching the North Sea at Gravelines. Below its walls, the Aa connects with the Neufossé canal, which ends at the Lys.
Main sightsThe fortifications (which had been improved by Vauban in the 17th century) were demolished during the last decade of the 19th century and boulevards and new thoroughfares built in their place. However, a section of the ramparts remains intact on the western side of the town, converted into a park known as the 'jardin public'. There are two harbours outside and one within the city. Saint-Omer has wide streets and spacious squares, but little animation.
The old cathedral belongs almost entirely to the 13th, 14th and centuries. A heavy square tower finished in 1499 surmounts the west portal. The church contains interesting paintings, a colossal statue of Christ seated between the Virgin and St John (13th century, originally belonging to the cathedral of Thérouanne and presented by the emperor Charles V), the cenotaph of Saint Audomare (Omer) (13th century) and numerous ex-votos. The richly decorated chapel in the transept contains a wooden figure of the Virgin (12th century), the object of pilgrimages. Of St Bertin, the church of the abbey (built between 1326 and 1520 on the site of previous churches) where Childeric III retired to end his days, there remain some arches and a lofty tower, which serve to adorn a public garden. Several other churches or convent chapels are of interest, among them St Sepulchre (14th century), which has a beautiful stone spire and stained-glass windows.
A fine collection of records, a picture-gallery, and a theatre are all accommodated in the town hall, built of the materials of the abbey of St Bertin. There are several houses of the 16th and 17th centuries; of the latter the finest is the Hôtel Colbert, once the royal lodging, and now occupied by an archaeological museum. Among the hospitals the military hospital is of note as occupying the well-known college opened by the English Jesuits in 1592, now part of the Lycée Alexandre Ribot. The old episcopal palace adjoining the cathedral is used as a court-house. The chief statue in the town is that of Jacqueline Robin.
EconomyThe industries include the manufacture of linen goods, sugar, soap, tobacco pipes, and mustard, the distilling of oil and liqueurs, dyeing, salt-refining, malting and brewing.
DemographicsThe suburb of Haut Pont to the north of Saint-Omer is inhabited by a community which continues to speak the local West Flemish dialect of the Dutch language, wear its traditional costume and maintain their peculiar customs, and claim particular pride in their honesty and industry. The land which these people cultivate has been reclaimed from the marsh, and the lègres (square blocks of land) communicate with each other by boat on the ditches and canals that divide them.
Nearby areasAt the end of the marsh, on the borders of the forest of Clairmarais, are the ruins of the abbey founded in 1140 by Thierry of Alsace, where Thomas Becket sought refuge in 1165. To the south of Saint-Omer, on a hill commanding the Aa, lies the camp of Helfaut, often called the camp of Saint-Omer.
On the Canal de Neufossé, near the town, is the Ascenseur des Fontinettes, a hydraulic lift which once raised and lowered canal boats to and from the Aa, over a height of 12m. This was replaced in 1967 by a large lock.
During the Second World War the area was chosen as a launch site for the V-2 rocket. The nearby blockhouse at Éperlecques and underground complex of La Coupole were built for this purpose and are open to the public.
HistoryOmer, bishop of Thérouanne, in the 7th century established the monastery of St Bertin, from which that of Notre-Dame was an offshoot. Rivalry and dissension, which lasted till the French Revolution, soon sprang up between the two monasteries, becoming especially virulent when in 1559 St Omer became a bishopric and Notre-Dame was raised to the rank of cathedral.
In the 9th century the village which grew up round the monasteries took the name of St Omer. The Normans laid the place waste about 860 and 880, but ten years later found town and monastery surrounded by walls and safe from their attack.
Situated on the borders of territories frequently disputed by French, Flemish, English and Spaniards, St Omer long continued subject to siege and military disaster. In 1071 Philip I and Count Arnulf III of Flanders were defeated at St Omer by Robert the Frisian. In 1127 the town received a communal charter from William Clito, count of Flanders. In 1340 a large battle was fought in the towns suburbs between an Anglo-Flemish army and a French one under Eudes IV, Duke of Burgundy in which the Flemish force was forced to withdraw.
In 1493 it came to the Low Countries as part of the Spanish dominion. The French made futile attempts against it between 1551 and 1596, and again in 1638 (under Cardinal Richelieu) and 1647. But in 1677, after seventeen days' siege, Louis XIV forced the town to capitulate; and the peace of Nijmegen permanently confirmed the conquest. In 1711 St Omer, on the verge of surrendering to Prince Eugene of Savoy and Marlborough owing to famine, was saved by the daring of Jacqueline Robin, who risked her life in bringing provisions into the place. St Omer ceased to be a bishopric in 1801.
MiscellaneousSaint-Omer is the seat of a court of assizes and tribunals, of a chamber of commerce, and of a board of trade arbitration. Besides the Lycée Alexandre Ribot, there are schools of music and of art.
The public library of Saint-Omer holds, in its rare books section, one of the three French copies of the 42-line Gutenberg Bible, originally from the library of the abbey of St Bertin. The other two copies are in Paris.
Godfrey of Saint-Omer, a Flemish knight and one of the founding members of the Knights Templar in 1119, is said to have come from the family of the Lords of Saint-Omer.
King Henry the VIII of England employed a swordsman from Saint-Omer for the execution of Queen Anne Boleyn, rather than having a Queen beheaded with the common axe.
BirthsSaint-Omer was the birthplace of:
Twinned citiesSaint Omer is twinned with:
Deal, United Kingdom
Detmold, Germany
Ypres, Belgium
See also
External link and reference
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