“ Its wide streets, of which the most important is the rue St Jean, shady boulevards, and public gardens enhance the attraction which the town derives from an abundance of fine churches and old houses. Hardly any remains of its once extensive ramparts and towers are now to be seen; but the castle, founded by William the Conqueror and completed by Henry I., is still employed as barracks, though in a greatly altered condition. St Pierre, the most beautiful church in Caen, stands at the northern extremity of the rue St Jean, in the centre of the town. ”

“ In the south-east of the town there is a floating basin lined with quays and connected with the Orne and with the canal which debouches into the sea at Ouistreham 9 m. to the N.N.E. The port, which also includes a portion of the river-bed, communicates with Havre and Newhaven by a regular line of steamers; it has a considerable fishing population. ”