Ardres

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Commune of Ardres
Location
Longitude	01° 58' 42" East
Latitude	50° 51' 20" North
Administration
Country	France
Region	Nord-Pas-de-Calais
Department	Pas-de-Calais
Arrondissement	Saint-Omer
Canton	Canton of Ardres (chef-lieu de canton)
Statistics
Altitude	2 m–17 m (avg. 11 m)
Land area¹	13.52 km²
Population² (1999)	4154
- Density (1999)	307/km²
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code	62038/ 62610
¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 mi² or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
² Population sans doubles comptes: single count of residents of multiple communes (e.g. students and military personnel).

Ardres is a town of northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, 10.1 mi. by rail (station is at Pont d'Ardres, a few Km from Ardres) S.S.E. of Calais, with which it is also connected by a canal(very limited turning space). It is one of three towns known as the Les Trois Pays ("the Three Countries"), the other two being Guînes and Licques. Ardes, the first town in the French king's land, has a rich and vibrant history as a military and trading post for the English from 1347 - 1558.

Major tourist attractions at Ardres include the Chapelle des Carmes and the Eglise Notre Dame de Grâce.

There are also some lakes (created when peat was removed) which provide fishing and sailing.

Local market is on Thursday mornings

Population (1999): 4,198 inhabitants for the commune and 17,610 inhabitants for the canton.

[edit] History

The "Field of the Cloth of Gold", where Henry VIII of England and Francis I of France met in 1520, was at Balinghem in the immediate neighbourhood. The town is an important market for cattle.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.