Pas-de-Calais
Pas-de-Calais (, "strait of Calais"; pcd, Pas-Calés; also nl, Nauw van Kales) is a department in northern France named after the French designation of the Strait of Dover, which it borders. It has the most communes of all the departments of ...
Hauts-de-France
Hauts-de-France (; pcd, Heuts-d'Franche; , also ''Upper France'') is the northernmost region of France, created by the territorial reform of French regions in 2014, from a merger of Nord-Pas-de-Calais and Picardy. Its prefecture is Lille. The ...
region of
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
coalmining
Coal mining is the process of extracting coal from the ground. Coal is valued for its energy content and since the 1880s has been widely used to generate electricity. Steel and cement industries use coal as a fuel for extraction of iron fro ...
commune, now a light industrial and farming town, situated some northeast of
Lens
A lens is a transmissive optical device which focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements ...
, at the junction of the D46 and D919 roads and next to the
A1 autoroute
The A1 Autoroute, also known as l'autoroute du Nord (the Northern Motorway), is the busiest of France's autoroutes. With a length of , it connects Paris with the northern city of Lille. It is managed by the Société des Autoroutes du Nord et ...
. The Lens canal and the canalized river
Deûle
The Deûle (; nl, Deule) is a river of northern France which is channeled for the main part of its course (from Lens to Lille). The upstream part is still partly free-flowing and is known as the Souchez. The Deûle flows into the Lys (right ban ...
forms threequarters of the borders of the commune.
Nearest communes
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Harnes
Harnes () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.
Geography
Harnes is an ex-coalmining and light industrial town situated some northeast of Lens, at the junction of the D162e and the D39. The Lens ...
Carvin
Carvin () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.
Geography
An ex-coalmining commune, now a light industrial and farming town, situated some northeast of Lens, completely encircled by the N17 and ...
(north)
*
Oignies
Oignies (; pcd, Ongnies) is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.
Geography
Oignies is a former coalmining town, nowadays a light industrial town, northeast of Lens, at the junction of the D46 and ...
(east)
*
Dourges
Dourges () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.
Geography
An ex-coalmining commune, now a light industrial and farming town, situated some east of Lens, at junction 17 of the A21 and the A1 auto ...
(southeast)
*
Montigny-en-Gohelle
Montigny-en-Gohelle is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region of France.
Geography
Montigny-en-Gohelle is former coalmining town, nowadays a light industrial and dormitory town, east of Lens, on the D46, D39e an ...
History
The history of the area remains marked by the
Courrières mine disaster
The Courrières mine disaster, Europe's worst mining accident, caused the death of 1,099 miners in Northern France on 10 March 1906. This disaster was surpassed only by the Benxihu Colliery accident in China on 26 April 1942, which killed 1,5 ...
which resulted in 1,099 deaths on 10 March 1906. All the regions' coalmines were closed by 1970. It was the site of a massacre in 1940.
Catherine Plewinski
Catherine Plewinski (born 12 July 1968 in Courrières, Pas-de-Calais) is a former freestyle and butterfly swimmer from France, who won two bronze medals at the Summer Olympics. She first did so in Seoul at the 1988 Summer Olympics in the 100&nb ...
, swimmer
*
Eric Sikora
The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, or Eirik is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization).
The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-Norse ''* ain ...
,
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...
Places of interest
* The sports centre ''Centre Sportif''.
* A forest north of Courrières.
* The church of St.Piat, dating from the sixteenth century.
* The
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations m ...
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...
*
Aylesham
Aylesham is a village and civil parish in the Dover district of Kent, England. The village is located around 6.5 miles (10.5 km) southeast of the cathedral city of Canterbury, and around 8.5 miles (13.7 km) northwest of the town an ...
,
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...