Bayeux
[key], town, Calvados dept., N France, in Normandy, near the English
Channel. It is a farm and communications center, noted for its lace
industry. A Roman town and episcopal see from the 4th cent., it was burned
(1105) by Henry I of England. Sections of its Romanesque church withstood
the fire and form a part of the remarkable Gothic cathedral built for the
most part in the 13th cent. The town is particularly famous for its museum
containing the Bayeux tapestry.
In World War II, Bayeux was the first French city liberated by the Allies
(June 8, 1944).
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