Calais

a fortified seaport town of France, in the department of Pas-de- Calais, on the Strait of, and 25 miles S. E. of Dover, and distant 184 miles by rail from Paris. The Old Town or Calais proper has a citadel, and was formerly surrounded by fortifications; but the modern suburb of St. Pierre les Calais having been amalgamated with Calais proper, both are now surrounded with forts and other works, to which mora es lend additional strength. In 1847 Calais was taken by Edward III. of England, after a siege of 11 months. In 1558 it was retaken by the Duke of Guise, being the last relic of the French dominions of the Plant a genets, which at one time comprehended the half of France. Pop. (1901) 59,793.