Caen, the chief town in the French department of Calvados, and the former capital of Lower Normandy, is situated on the left bank of the navigable Orne, here joined by the Odon, 9 miles from its mouth, 149 W. by N. of Paris, and 83 ESE. of Cherbourg. It has wide clean streets, a fine central square, with a statue of Louis XIV., charming promenades, and many noble specimens of medieval architecture. Among its fifteen churches are those of St Étienne and La Sainte Trinité, both Romanesque in style, founded in 1066 by William the Conqueror and his queen Matilda, and containing their graves, which the Huguenots violated in 1562; St Pierre (1308-1521), with an exquisite spire 242 feet high; St Nicholas, now desecrated; and St Jean. The castle, founded by the Conqueror, and finished by Henry I. of England, was dismantled in 1793, and now serves as a barrack. The university (1809) is successor to one founded by our Henry VI. in 1436; and in the Hôtel de Ville is a library of 80,000 volumes, and a fine collection of paintings (its gem Perugino's 'Marriage of the Virgin'). The chief manufacture is lace. Trade is facilitated by a maritime canal connecting the port with the sea, and also by railways connecting it with Paris, Rouen, Cherbourg, Tours, Le Mans, &c. Nothing is known of Caen before the 9th century. It was a place of importance in 912, when it came into the possession of the Normans, under whom it increased rapidly. William the Conqueror and his queen made it their residence, and greatly improved it. In 1346, and again in 1417, it was taken by the English, who held it till 1450. In 1793 several of the Girondist chiefs, proscribed by the Jacobins, went to Caen, and organised an unsuccessful revolt against the 'Mountain' (q.v.). Malherbe, Marot, Huet, and Auber were natives (a marble statue of the last was unveiled in 1883); Charlotte Corday lived here; and Beau Brummell died in the lunatic asylum. Pop. (1872) 39,415; (1891) 43,462. See Lavalley, Caen, son Histoire et ses Monuments (1877), and the history by Carel (1887).
The excellence of the oolitic Caen Stone from the great quarries here, and the facility of transport by sea, led to its being largely used in England; Winchester and Canterbury cathedrals, Henry VII.'s Chapel at Westminster, and many country churches, are built of it, and it is still in demand in England. For its qualities and defects, see BUILDING STONE.