Ardres

Ardres is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France.

Geography

Ardres is located 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.

History

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 to 1558.

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.

Population

The inhabitants are called Ardrésiens.

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1793	1,596	—
1800	1,466	−8.1%
1806	1,645	+12.2%
1821	1,844	+12.1%
1831	2,016	+9.3%
1836	2,150	+6.6%
1841	2,195	+2.1%
1846	2,112	−3.8%
1851	2,071	−1.9%
1856	2,031	−1.9%
1861	2,277	+12.1%
1866	2,189	−3.9%
1872	2,143	−2.1%
1876	2,223	+3.7%
1881	2,293	+3.1%
1886	2,274	−0.8%
1891	2,473	+8.8%
1896	2,522	+2.0%
1901	2,597	+3.0%
1906	2,717	+4.6%
1911	2,785	+2.5%
1921	2,839	+1.9%
1926	2,708	−4.6%
1931	2,625	−3.1%
1936	2,719	+3.6%
1946	2,901	+6.7%
1954	2,939	+1.3%
1962	2,997	+2.0%
1968	3,195	+6.6%
1975	3,126	−2.2%
1982	3,390	+8.4%
1990	3,936	+16.1%
1999	4,153	+5.5%
2006	4,191	+0.9%
2009	4,213	+0.5%

Sights

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.

Personalities

• Jean-Marie Dorsenne (1773–1812), a French military commander of the Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, was born in Ardres

See also

• Communes of the Pas-de-Calais department

References

• INSEE commune file
•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: