Ouistreham

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Commune of Ouistreham
Location
Longitude 00°14,7 N
Latitude 49°20, N
Administration
Country France
Region Basse-Normandie
Department Calvados
Arrondissement Caen
Canton Ouistreham
Mayor André Ledran
Statistics
Population²
(1999)
8,759
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code 14488/ 14150
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).
France

Ouistreham is a commune of the Calvados département, in the Basse-Normandie région, in France.

Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft. It serves as the port of the city of Caen.

Contents

[edit] History

The name Ouistreham derives from the Saxon Waster Ham, or "western village", and it has been a trading port since the Middle Ages ; now the harbour is a part of "Port de Caen-Ouistreham".

Since the beginning of the 20th century, it is a bathing beach on the "Riva Bella".

German batteries in Ouistreham. The photo was taken in August of 2005
German batteries in Ouistreham. The photo was taken in August of 2005

On June 6, 1944, the only French forces involved in the D-Day landings (177 men of the Commando Kieffer) disembarked at Ouistreham (Sword Beach).

[edit] Tourist sites

  • Musée du Mur de l'Atlantique (literally the Museum of the Atlantic Wall)
  • Musée du Débarquement n° 4 Commando (museum)

[edit] Transportation

The port of Ouistreham has a scheduled cross-Channel ferry service to Portsmouth, operated by Brittany Ferries.

[edit] Miscellaneous

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Ouistreham is twinned with the West Sussex village of Angmering

The assault on Ouistreham was featured in the movie The Longest Day.