Boulogne-sur-Mer
[key], city, Pas-de-Calais dept., N France, in Picardy, on the English
Channel. A commercial seaport and the leading fishing port of France, it has
canning and shipbuilding industries. It is an important ferry port between
France and England. The opening of the Channel Tunnel at nearby Coquelles,
France may have an impact on the city's ferry services and industries. From
there the Romans sailed (a.d. 43) to conquer Britain, and there
again Napoleon assembled an invasion fleet (which never sailed) in
1803–5. The port was a main base for British armies in World War I
and a German submarine base in World War II. Most of the city was destroyed
during the latter conflict. The Cathedral of Notre Dame (built 19th cent.;
damaged 1941; since restored) is a great shrine of pilgrimage; it stands on
a site where miracles were believed to have occurred in the 7th cent.
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