Ouistreham
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Please expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French Wikipedia. (December 2008) After translating, {{Translated|fr|Ouistreham}} must be added to the talk page to ensure copyright compliance.Translation instructions · Translate via Google · Involve your language class |
Coordinates: 49°16′48″N 0°15′26″W / 49.28°N 0.257222222222°W
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Commune of Ouistreham |
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| Location | |
  Ouistreham
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| Administration | |
|---|---|
| Country | France |
| Region | Basse-Normandie |
| Department | Calvados |
| Arrondissement | Caen |
| Canton | Ouistreham |
| Mayor | André Ledran |
| Statistics | |
| Elevation | 12 m (39 ft) avg. |
| Land area1 | 9.95 km2 (3.84 sq mi) |
| Population2 | 8,759 (1999) |
| - Density | 880 /km² (2,300 /sq mi) |
| Miscellaneous | |
| INSEE/Postal code | 14488/ 14150 |
| 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. | |
Ouistreham is a commune in the Calvados department in the Basse-Normandie region of France.
Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry-harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town is about the mouth of the Canal de Caen à la Mer.
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[edit] History
The name Ouistreham derives from ouistre - 'oyster' and Saxon ham= 'village'. It has been a trading port since the Middle Ages. The harbour is now a part of "Port de Caen-Ouistreham". Ouistreham is pronounced Wee-ss- tram
Since the beginning of the 20th century, it is a bathing beach on the "Riva Bella".
On June 6, 1944, the Free French forces involved in the D-Day landings (177 men of the Commando Kieffer) disembarked at Ouistreham (Sword Beach).
The assault on Ouistreham was featured in the movie The Longest Day, though there the port depicted is in fact Port-en-Bessin.
[edit] Tourist sites
- Museum of the Atlantic Wall
- Musée du Débarquement n° 4 Commando (museum)
- Der Grosse Bunker (French: Le Grand Bunker) is an old German bunker from WW2 that was captured by the British in the D-Day invasion
[edit] Transportation
The port of Ouistreham has a scheduled cross-Channel ferry service to Portsmouth, operated by Brittany Ferries.
[edit] Twin towns
Ouistreham is twinned with the West Sussex village of Angmering in England
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