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Calvados is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790, in application of the law of 22 December 1789. It had been part of the former province of Normandy. The name "Orne-Inférieure" was originally proposed, but it was ultimately called Calvados after a group of rocks off its coast.
One popular legend ascribes its etymology to the Salvador, a ship from the Spanish Armada that sank by the rocks near Arromanches-les-Bains in 1588. It is more likely, however, that the name Calvados was derived from calva dorsa, Latin meaning bare backs, in reference to two sparsely vegetated rocks off its shore.
After the allied victory at Waterloo the department was occupied by Prussiantroops between June 1815 and November 1818.
The city of Caen is at its heart which has no major towns nearby. The five major towns in Calvados are distant hubs from Caen, stemming from medieval main market town function: clockwise from the northeast:
Smaller towns include those that emerged from villages in the Victorian period along the coasts, either for fishing and boating or for pioneering casinos, holiday amusements and sandy beach bathing.
Economy
Agriculture is key to the private sector in Calvados and several parts rely heavily for prosperity on tourism, as well as regional distribution sites, transport work and general chemical and mechanical production industries; the university and research and development functions of the district are clustered around Caen. Bayeux is the main host location of the Bayeux tapestry. Caen Cathedral is a large instance of largely intact original medieval architecture, of Caen stone– the widely cited benchmark for construction limestone, sometimes used generally for any such product of strong, near flawless, pale or yellow quality. It neighbours Abbey of Sainte-Trinité, Caen, also known as Abbaye aux Dames. Calvados produces much butter, cheese, cider, and Calvados, the applespirit, a brandy that alongside cheese has a major export market.
Politics
The President of the Departmental Council is the centrist Jean-Léonce Dupont, the former dominant figure of the right and centre in the department. The Conseil General of Calvados and Devon County Council signed a Twinning Charter in 1971 to develop links with the English county of Devon.
The Bayeux Tapestry is on display in Bayeux and makes the city one of the most-visited tourist destinations in Normandy.
Juno Beach Centre at Courseulles-sur-Mer, Calvados, commemorates the D-Day landing of the Canadian liberation forces at Juno Beach during World War II in 1944. The cult of Saint Thérèse de Lisieux brings large numbers of people on pilgrimage to Lisieux, where she lived in a Carmelite convent. Every September, Deauville hosts the Festival of the American Movie and the beach resort of Cabourg hosts the Festival of the Romantic Movie. Annually, the city of Caen celebrates the festival of the electronical cultures called "Nordik Impakt" and the festival of Beauregard, just around Caen.
The local dialect of the Norman language is known as Augeron. It is spoken by a minority of the population.
Tourism
Calvados is a popular tourism destination in France because of its seaside resorts and their hotels and casinos. Other popular attractions in Calvados include several manors and castles, the chalk cliffs, the typical Norman houses, the history of William the Conqueror, Caen, Bayeux, Lisieux, the famous D-day beaches and numerous museums about the Second World War. Culinary specialties of Calvados are abundant: cider, Calvados, camembert, and Pont-l'Évêque cheeses.
One of the advantage of Calvados is to be fairly near large urban centers (Paris, Île-de-France). Calvados is therefore often preferred for holidays and for weekends and sometimes considered as the countryside of Paris.
Aquatic sports are often played on the coasts and beaches, for example, kite surfing and beach volleyball. Stade Malherbe Caen is a professional football team from Caen, who currently play in Ligue 2.
↑Lepelley, René (1990). Calvados, qui es-tu, d'où viens-tu ou le nom énigmatique d'un département Français: Critique d'une tradition, hypothèses diverses, proposition d'interprétation. C. Corlet.
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