Bailleul, Nord

Bailleul
Belle

Market place and belfry of Bailleul

Coat of arms
Bailleul

Coordinates: 50°44′21″N 2°44′00″E / 50.7392°N 2.7333°E / 50.7392; 2.7333Coordinates: 50°44′21″N 2°44′00″E / 50.7392°N 2.7333°E / 50.7392; 2.7333
Country France
Region Hauts-de-France
Department Nord
Arrondissement Dunkerque
Canton Bailleul-Nord-Est and Bailleul-Sud-Ouest
Intercommunality Monts de Flandres - Plaine de la Lys
Government
 • Mayor (2008–2014) Michel Giloen
Area1 43.42 km2 (16.76 sq mi)
Population (2009)2 13,989
 • Density 320/km2 (830/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
 • Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code 59043 / 59270
Elevation 14–86 m (46–282 ft)
(avg. 44 m or 144 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.
Location of Bailleul in the arrondissement of Dunkirk

Bailleul (Belle in Dutch) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is located in French Flanders, 3 km (2 mi) from the Belgian border and 26 km (16 mi) northwest of Lille.

Population

Heraldry

 The arms of Bailleul are blazoned :
Gules, a cross vair.'

Media

Bailleul is the birthplace of French filmmaker Bruno Dumont and served as the setting for his first two feature films. This area is also a setting in the Timothy Findley book The Wars.

Carnival

The inhabitants of Bailleul celebrate carnival with five days of processions and other festivities. The carnival has taken place since 1853, when the Philanthropic Company of Bailleul was founded. During the event, a search takes place for the needy ones of the city. The Gargantua Giant chairs the festivities, seated on his float and accompanied by his kitchen boys.

At the end of Shrove Tuesday, after the final procession of around 50 floats, with local groups, brass bands and plenty of confetti, Doctor Francisco Piccolissimo tries to cure the excesses of some inhabitants in an unconventional way in front of the town hall, and the festival continues late into the night in the town's cafés and bars.

Points of interest

Railways

Bailleul has a railway station on the line from Lille to Calais and Dunkirk.

International relations

Bailleul is twinned with:

Personalities

See also

References

    Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bailleul (Nord).


    This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/1/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.