Cambrai, France - May 23, 2012

In the late middle ages and early rennaisance, Cambrai was a significant religious center and one of the significant and powerful cities of northern France. It is situated on the Escaut river in the Nord department of the Nord Pas de Calais region and was at one time a walled city with a typical complement of access gates or portes.
In 1543, Charles V, the Holy Roman Emperor of the time, conquered the city and added it to his already significant possessions. After having Saint Sépulchre, the medieval monastery, demolished he built a citadel in its place.
A century and a quarter later in 1677, with Louis XIV in control of the fortunes of France, he determined to "safeguard the tranquility of his borders for ever" part of which included the re-capture of Cambrai and restoring it to France. Louis supervised the siege personally and the city fell to him in April of that year.
One hundred and twelve years later, in 1789, came the end of the French Royals with the Revolution. The Revolution was not kind to Cambrai. The Comité de Salut Public sent Joseph Le Bon to the city in 1794 to begin the era of "terror" and he sent many citizens to the guillotine. Le Bon himself was tried in 1795 and promptly executed. Most of the religious buildings of the city were demolished following the revolution and the old cathedral, apparently an exquisite building, was sold to a merchant who operated it as a stone quarry. By 1809 everything was gone except the main tower which collapsed in a storm during that year.
More recently, Cambrai became the Duke of Wellington's headquarters for the British Army of Occupation, from 1815 to 1818 following the Napoleonic drama. From November 20 to December 7, 1917, the WWI Battle of Cambrai took place in the area. This battle is sometimes noted erroneously for the first mass use of tanks in a combined arms operation however there had been several earlier deployments April, May, June, July and October of that year. Mark IV tanks were used at Cambrai but were still found wanting and became mostly ineffective after the first day.
Today, with a decling population of 32,000, Cambrai is like many erstwhile northern French cities: unkempt, dirty, poorly laid out for use in the 21st century and burdened with a hodge-podge of architectural styles. Another example of the avid conservation relegating the city to a museum piece.
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