Editing Cambrai (section)

===Sites and monuments===
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[[File:Cambrai Porte Notre-Dame.JPG|thumb|right|The Notre-Dame Gate (1634)]]

A large part of the monumental heritage of Cambrai has disappeared over the centuries. It was firstly [[Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor|Charles V]], in order to build a citadel at the Mont-des-Bœufs, who ordered the destruction of the Abbey Saint-Gery of Gothic style in 1543.

During the [[French Revolution]] all of the religious buildings of the town were sold as national property and destroyed, including the [[Old Cambrai Cathedral|old cathedral]]. Only four churches, a converted attic, a hospital, a temple of reason and a prison, were spared.

The dismantling of the fortifications, from 1894, led to the disappearance of many [[City gate|gates]]. Some have been preserved thanks to the interventions of the Society of Emulation of the city.

[[World War I]] was again responsible for significant destruction, the German army having undermined and torched the city centre before retreating in September 1918.  A total of 1,214 buildings were destroyed, including the city hall, which was rebuilt in the [[Neoclassical architecture|neoclassical]] style before the Revolution by the architects [[Jacques Denis Antoine]] and [[Nicolas-Henri Jardin]].<ref group=a>p.208</ref>

Finally at the end of [[World War II]], in April 1944, and then again in May, July and until 11 August, Cambrai suffered Allied bombardments. A total of 55% of the buildings were heavily damaged and 13% were completely destroyed.

Despite this considerable destruction, the city kept an important monumental heritage. Cambrai has been classified as a [[French Towns and Lands of Art and History|City of Art and History]] since 1992, the first town of the Nord department to obtain this prestigious label.

====Religious heritage====
[[File:Cathédrale Notre-Dame Cambrai .JPG|thumb|right|The Cathedral of Our Lady]]

The [[Cambrai Cathedral|Our Lady of Grace Cathedral]] was completed in 1703, in the classical style of the time, as the abbey church of the Holy Sepulchre. The church survived the turbulence of the [[French Revolution]] as a Temple of Reason from 1794. The admirable [[Old Cambrai Cathedral|Gothic Cathedral]] from the 12th century was destroyed in the aftermath the Revolution of 1789. There is no trace on the present ''Place Fénelon'' of the former building. Bishop Louis Belmas adopted the former abbey church as the new cathedral in 1801.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lecompte |first1=Denis |title=Notre-Dame-de-Grace |date=2005 |publisher=Éditions du Signe |location=Strasbourg |isbn=2-7468-0759-9 |pages=5–10}}</ref>

The apse contains the monumental tomb of Fénelon, a masterpiece of the sculptor [[David d'Angers]], and the semitransepts with ''l'Icône Notre Dame de Grâce'' [the Icon of Our Lady of Grace] and the nine reputed [[grisaille]]s by [[Marten Jozef Geeraerts|Geeraerts]] of Antwerp. The grand [[Organ (music)#Chamber organ|organs]] were built by the house of {{Interlanguage link multi|Pierre Schyven|fr}} of Ixelles in 1897. After the events of [[World War I]], extensive restoration was undertaken by the organ builder Auguste Convers, who brought the current instrument to 49 stops with 3,670 pipes. The building was classified in the inventory of [[Monument historique|Historic Monuments]] on 9 August 1906.<ref>{{Base Mérimée|PA00107395}}</ref>

The {{Interlanguage link multi|Grand Seminary Chapel|fr|3=Chapelle des Jésuites de Cambrai}} most commonly called the College of the Jesuits' Chapel, completed in 1692, is a unique example of [[Baroque]] art in France, to the north of Paris. The chapel served as a prison to the nearby Revolutionary Court in 1794, and it was classified in the inventory of Historic Monuments on 30 April 1920.<ref>{{Base Mérimée|PA00107400}}</ref>

The {{Interlanguage link multi|Église Saint-Géry de Cambrai|fr|3=Église Saint-Géry de Cambrai|lt=Church of Saint-Géry}}, a listed historical monument since 26 November 1919,<ref>{{Base Mérimée|PA00107402}}</ref> is one of the oldest monuments of Cambrai. It contains a remarkable [[Rood screen|choir screen]] in polychromatic marble carved by the Cambrai native [[Gaspard and Balthazard Marsy|Gaspard Marsy]] as well as ''La mise au tombeauu'' by [[Peter Paul Rubens]] dating from 1616. The grand organs built in 1867 by [[Joseph Merklin|Merklin]] were the subject of a significant transformation in 1978. The current instrument has 41 stops. This church has been the subject of a restoration of the frontage and roofing over a period of four years (2011–2015).

Other buildings of Cambrai are also classified or listed as Historic Monuments. The former {{Interlanguage link multi|Convent of the Recollects of Cambrai|fr|3=Couvent des Récollets de Cambrai|lt=Convent of the Recollects}} has been registered since 2 March 1943,<ref>{{Base Mérimée|PA00107401}}</ref> and the {{Interlanguage link multi|Béguinages Saint-Vaast and Saint-Nicolas|fr|3=Béguinages Saint-Vaast et Saint-Nicolas}} have been classified as Historic Monuments since 1949.<ref>{{Base Mérimée|PA00107394}}</ref>

====Military heritage====
The Citadel: Despite its dismantling in the 19th century, the Citadel of Charles V retained the counter-mine galleries which are today buried; the Royal gate and drawbridge, classified in the inventory of historical monuments on 14 April 1932,<ref>{{Base Mérimée|PA00107399}}</ref> flanked on the back of two guardhouses and an arsenal of the 16th century. Among subsequent developments, a powder magazine, housing for officers and a "bombproof" barracks of the 19th century are also noteworthy.

The {{Interlanguage link multi|Château de Selles|fr}} is an old fortified château, which was built in the 11th century. Once isolated by the waters of the Scheldt, it has retained its towers and walls and especially buried ducts. The ducts include much graffiti which attests to the desperation of the prisoners, confined on the orders of the Count-Bishop.

The {{Interlanguage link multi|Porte de Paris (Cambrai)|fr|3=Porte de Paris (Cambrai)|lt=Portes de Paris}} (late 14th century),<ref>{{Base Mérimée|PA00107413}}</ref> {{Interlanguage link multi|Porte Notre-Dame (Cambrai)|fr|3=Porte Notre-Dame (Cambrai)|lt=Notre Dame}} (17th century)<ref>{{Base Mérimée|PA00107412}}</ref> and the {{Interlanguage link multi|Tour Saint-Fiacre|fr|3=Tour Saint-Fiacre|lt=Tours des Sottes}} (or Saint-Fiacre),<ref>{{Base Mérimée|PA59000006}}</ref> the Caudron (1st half of the 15th century)<ref>{{Base Mérimée|PA59000005}}</ref> and {{Interlanguage link multi|Tour des Arquets|fr|3=Tour des Arquets|lt=Arquets}} (16th century)<ref>{{Base Mérimée|PA00107415}}</ref> are the remains of the medieval walls.

====Civil heritage====
[[File:Carillon-Cambrai.jpg|thumb|left|Martin and Martine strike the hours in the bell tower of Cambrai's town hall]]

The {{Interlanguage link multi|Belfry of Cambrai|fr|3=Beffroi de Cambrai}}, formerly the bell tower of the Church of Saint-Martin. The monument, built in the 15th century, became a belfry of Cambrai in 1550. Classified in the inventory of historical monuments on 15 July 1965,<ref>{{Base Mérimée|PA00107416}}</ref> in 2005 the belfry was inscribed on the [[UNESCO]] [[World Heritage List]] as part of the [[Belfries of Belgium and France]] site, in recognition of its architecture and importance to the history of municipal power in Europe.<ref name = "unesco">{{cite web |url = http://whc.unesco.org/en/list/943 |title= Belfries of Belgium and France |website = UNESCO World Heritage Centre |publisher = United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization |access-date = 6 November 2021}}</ref>

The city hall, renovated in 1932, opens onto the ''Grand'Place'' by a majestic Greek-style façade, surmounted by a bell tower where two bronze bell ringers, giant and Moorish type, strike the hours on a big bell above the big clock: {{Interlanguage link multi|Martin and Martine|fr|3=Martin et Martine}}, the protectors of the city. The marriage hall contains a series of frescoes and can be visited on request.

The Hotel de Francqueville (18th century) houses the rich collections of the {{Interlanguage link multi|Museum of Cambrai|fr|3=Musée de Cambrai}}, considerably enlarged and renovated in 1994.{{cn|date=October 2024}} The relief map of the city, as it was at the end of the 17th century, is the starting point for essential guided tours of the city.

The ''Maison Espagnole'' [Spanish House], headquarters of the Tourist Office, dates from 1595 and is the last house which is half-timbered and gabled on regional-style street. Oak sculptures ([[chimera (mythology)|chimera]]s and [[caryatid]]s) which adorned its façade in the 19th century are exposed on the first floor inside after undergoing a serious restoration. One can visit its medieval cellars. This building has been classified in the inventory of historical monuments on 31 August 1920.<ref>{{Base Mérimée|PA00107409}}</ref>

[[File:Marché couvert Cambrai.JPG|thumb|right|The covered market]]

The covered market, built after World War II, is home to lively Les Halles market days.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

The subterranean space<ref group="a" name="p.37"/> which extends below the centre of the city, as in other medieval cities, was explored in the middle of the 19th century as well as to the end of the 20th century. Carved into the white chalk, it includes galleries and Romanesque and Gothic vaulted rooms. There are also wells and niches for statues. These excavations have served as quarries for the extraction of construction materials, as well as stone for lime: The {{Interlanguage link multi|Catiche|fr|3=Catiche|lt="catiches"}} [underground quarries] are inverted funnels about {{convert|15|m|ft}} deep and {{convert|10-12|m|ft}} wide at the base.{{cn|date=October 2024}} This underground space was also used, until 1944, for shelters and caches during sieges, invasion or bombing.{{cn|date=October 2024}} Their dating is uncertain: It is not impossible that some of these excavations were carved during the Roman era, but it is likely that they were spaced out over a long period, according to the needs. Tours are organised by the tourist office.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

====Memorial heritage====
The German military cemetery of the ''Route de Solesmes'' and Cambrai East Military Cemetery: The cemetery and the ''Route de Solesmes'' was created by the German army in March 1917. Occupied since 1914, Cambrai was an important centre of command, logistics and health for the occupant.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cheminsdememoire-nordpasdecalais.fr/visiter-les-sites/le-front/cimetiere-militaire-allemand-de-la-route-de-solesme-et-cambrai-east-military-cemetery.html|title=Chemins de mémoire de la Grande Guerre en Nord-Pas-de-Calais}}</ref> The cemetery was opened to accommodate the bodies of soldiers who died in hospitals in the city, including at the end of the [[Battle of Arras (1917)|Battle of Arras]] (April–May 1917) and the [[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Battle of Cambrai]] (November–December 1917). The cemetery currently has 10,685 German graves, as well as those of 192 Russian prisoners of war and six Romanians.<ref>[[German War Graves Commission]]</ref> Two spaces, forming the Cambrai East Military Cemetery, contain the graves of 501 soldiers of the British Imperial Army.<ref>[[Commonwealth War Graves Commission]]</ref>