Editing Cambrai (section)

===Urban morphology===

====Origins====
The old centre of Cambrai was established on a small rise overlooking, from the right bank, the marshy area of the [[Scheldt]] Valley. Indications suggest that a [[Castra|castrum]] was built at this location, although the scarcity of excavations at Cambrai in has provided no archaeological evidence.<ref group=b>p.13</ref><ref group=c>p.10</ref> With its area of {{convert|4.4|ha|acre}}, the very modest castrum would've been much smaller than those of [[Boulogne-sur-Mer|Boulogne]] at {{convert|13|ha|acre}} and [[Reims]] at {{convert|56|ha|acre}}, for example.

====Development====
[[Faubourg]]s were developed, at the time of the [[Merovingian dynasty|Merovingian]] prosperity, to the north and west of the primitive castrum, around the churches of Saint-Vaast and Saint-Aubert. The looting of the city by the [[Vikings]] in December 880 convinced the Bishop Dodilon to strengthen and expand fortifications: The new enclosure he built tripled the size of the city.<ref group=b>pp.23–25</ref> To the southeast, on a hillock called Mont-des-Bœufs, Bishop [[Gaugericus]] had founded an abbey in 595, originally dedicated to Saint Médard and Saint Loup, then, after the death of the founder, Gaugericus himself. This abbey was certainly also protected by an enclosure. The space which separated these two urban cores hosted markets and fairs.<ref group=b>p.25</ref>

[[File:Cambrai - Cameracvm vulgo Cambray - Kamerijk (Atlas van Loon).jpg|thumb|right|City map dating from 1649]]
[[File:Map of Cambrai 1710.jpg|thumb|right|Map of 1710]]

These two quarters were joined in the 11th century when Bishop [[Gerard of Florennes|Gérard I]] built the churches of Saint Nicolas and the [[Cambrai Cathedral|Saint Sepulchre]], southeast of the city and east of Mont-des-Bœufs. The town hall, the market, butcher and various bodies of craftsmen settled in this new urban space that Bishop Lietbert had protected by an earth rampart. Even today the ''Grand-place'', the covered market, and a few names of streets (the ''Rue de Liniers'', ''Rue des Rôtisseurs'', ''Rue des Chaudronniers'' and ''Rue des Cordiers'') recall this stage of urban development.<ref group=b>p.37-38</ref>

The Bishop [[Gerard II (bishop of Cambrai)|Gérard II]] later replaced the earth rampart with a stone wall with towers, gates and ditches and encompassed the entire built space. Therefore Cambrai had reached the perimeter it would retain until the 19th century: While other cities in the region such as [[Bruges]], [[Ghent]] or [[Douai]] expanded their enclosures until the 14th century, that of Cambrai was redesigned and reinforced, but without affecting the outline.<ref group=b>p.61-62</ref><ref group=d>p.355</ref> The outline of this wall from the 11th century is still visible in the current boulevards.

It was probably under the episcopates of the bishops Gérard I, Liebert and Gérard II, in the 11th century, that was built the {{Interlanguage link multi|Château de Selles|fr}}, a fortress located on the edge of the Scheldt to the northwest of the city. In the 13th century, the Bishop Nicolas III de Fontaines ordered work to put it "on a good foot of defence".<ref>{{cite book|first1=Henri|last1=Montigny|title=Le château de Selles à Cambrai, Photographies et documentation|publisher=Centre culturel de Cambrai|year=1982|page=11|display-authors=etal}}</ref> This castle, owned by the bishop-counts, was intended as much to monitor the city as to ensure the defence. Its military role ended in the 16th century, when [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]] grabbed the city and ordered the construction, on Mont-des-Bœufs northeast of the town, of a citadel for which 800 houses were demolished along with the Abbey of Saint Gaugericus.<ref group=b>p.106</ref> The Château de Selles was then used as a prison.

====Dismantling of fortifications====
In the 19th century, the city was cramped within its fortified walls, which limited its development and prohibited any urban planning.

{{pull quote|Cambrai is one of the most inaccessible cities imaginable; its fortifications have a formidable appearance when it follows covered paths narrow and tortuous, crossing ditches filled by the Scheldt. Walls of extraordinary height enclose. The entrances, similar to tunnels, and barely sufficient for a car, lead to the city. All this overseen by a very daunting citadel built on top of Mont Saint-Géry.|author={{Interlanguage link multi|Victor-Eugène Ardouin-Dumazet|fr|3=Victor-Eugène Ardouin-Dumazet|lt=Ardouin-Dumazet}}|source=written in 1890.<ref group=a>p.192.</ref>}}

The dismantling of the fortifications, requested by petition as early as 1862, was finally accepted by the State after a further 30 years.<ref group=b>p.236-240.</ref> The work lasted 6 years and transformed the appearance of the city by the construction of a belt of wide [[boulevard]]s, the sale of new land to build, connecting the city to its suburbs and the establishment of public gardens.

====Drainage work====
[[File:Cambrai CPA porte des arquets escaut.jpg|thumb|right|Entry of the [[Scheldt]] into the city through the gate of Arquets (postcard from the early 20th century)]]

Cambrai is built on the edge of the wide marshy area of the Scheldt Valley encircling the western part of the city, the {{Interlanguage link multi|Château de Selles|fr}} to the north at the gate of the Holy Sepulchre in the south: Wet gardens, ponds, meadows, ponds and marsh formed a flood zone sometimes also used for the defence of the city. The suburb of Cantimpré, linking the ancient heart to the Scheldt below to the west, had raised several metres.<ref group=a>p.61</ref> The two arms of the Scheldt (Escaut), the Escautins, are separated before entering the medieval town: The Escauette and the Clicotiau, which bathed the walls of the old urban core. These streams were probably due to man's hand because they do not correspond to natural landforms. However, it is unknown whether their origin dates back to the Roman era or is from a later time.{{cn|date=January 2024}}

Throughout the [[Middle Ages]], and again in modern times, the Scheldt and its arms required constant work: Repair of levees, enhancement of pavement, straightening of the bed, as well as the digging of ditches to regulate the course of the river, prevent floods and ensure as far as possible a steady water level, on which the mills and tanneries depended. Despite these works, floods were frequent.<ref group=a>p.63</ref> The absorption of rainwater and household water descending from the upper areas of the city was also a problem. Bouly spoke in 1842, in his ''History of Cambrai and le Cambrésis'', of "fast torrents [stormwater] formed today by rolling up the Scheldt".<ref>
{{cite book| first1 = Eugène| last1 = Bouly| title = Histoire de Cambrai et du Cambrésis| publisher = Hattu, Libraire-Éditeur|location=Cambrai |year = 1842| volume = 1 | page = 82 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=1rg9AAAAcAAJ&q=histoire+de+cambrai}}</ref> In the Middle Ages the "flow of el kayère" (or "flow of the chair"),<ref group=note>So named because of the neighboring [[pillory|infamy chair]]</ref> close to the current ''Grand-Place'', was dug a reservoir for "water courses of the falling waters of the sky", i.e. to control the flow of rainwater. In the 19th century aqueducts were built to carry these waters, and the streets were paved. Furthermore, in 1926 a drainage sewer was built at ''Rue Blériot''.{{cn|date=April 2025}}

The draining of the wetlands that surround the town began in 1804. The work ended in 1951 with the drying of the small stream of Saint Benoît near the Liberty Stadium, itself built on this wetland which dominated the ancient city walls, and in 1953 with the covering of the Clicotiau.<ref group="a" name="p.62"/>

====The 20th century====
[[File:Cambrai grand-place maison a pignon.JPG|thumb|left|upright|On the Grand-Place the specification of reconstruction imposed a regional style]]
[[File:MERESSE 2038 - CAMBRAI Pendant l'incendie - La Choque et Place au Bois.JPG|thumb|right|Ruins of the town centre, in 1917]]

The destruction caused by [[World War I]] necessitated a reconstruction of the centre. The municipality organised a competition, which was won by {{Interlanguage link multi|Pierre Leprince-Ringuet|fr}}. His project, inspired with both a [[Regionalism (politics)|regionalist]] taste and the [[Georges-Eugène Haussmann|Hausmannian]] style, completely redesigned the layout of roads from the [[Middle Ages]]. It was rebuilt as a modern city. The architect [[Louis Marie Cordonnier]] described the prospects to elected representatives:

{{pull quote|The centre of the city is completely razed and destroyed. So, you have free rein. Your duty is to remake a city pleasant, modern, retaining its character. Acting otherwise would be a crime for which you would be responsible to future generations. Your streets were narrow, twisty: Straighten them, adjust them, expand them. Your houses were awkward, obscure, unhealthy: Enforce in your specifications the requirements for hygiene, for ventilation, for lighting.|author=[[Louis Marie Cordonnier]]|source=''La Vie des Cambrésiens'' [The Life of the People of Cambrai]<ref group=a>quote p.199</ref>}}

The Leprince-Ringuet plan was only partially achieved, but the streets were removed, others expanded, and new paths were created as the ''Avenue de la Victoire'' [Avenue of Victory].{{cn|date=February 2025}}

Further destruction due to the [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] bombing of April–August 1944 again required a reconstruction. It was especially, in the years following [[World War II]], to rehouse the victims and to cope with the expanding population. Priority was given to detached houses, and new quarters appeared, such as the "Martin–Martine" subdivision south-east of the city. In the 1980s, the municipality worked to restore and develop the ancient heritage.{{cn|date=February 2025}}