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Ouistreham
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Ouistreham
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Ouistreham
Ouistreham Locks on the Canal de Caen á la Mer at Ouistreham, France.

Ouistreham

town, France
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Ouistreham, resort town and port, Normandy région, northwestern France. It is situated at the mouth of the Orne River and is 9 miles (14 km) northeast of Caen, to which it is linked by road, by the Orne River, and by a ship canal. Adjoining Ouistreham on the English Channel coast is the smaller resort town of Riva-Bella, where the 4th Commando Museum (also known as the Sword Beach Museum) commemorates the D-Day (June 6, 1944) landing of British troops during the Normandy Invasion in World War II. The Great Bunker of Riva-Bella is a German-built command-and-control centre that now houses a museum focusing on the “Atlantic Wall” system of German coastal defenses.

(Read Sir John Keegan’s Britannica entry on the Normandy Invasion.)

Ouistreham’s Romanesque and Gothic church was built in the 12th and 13th centuries. The town was a prominent regional port until the construction in the 19th century of the ship canal to Caen. Some port activities continue, including yachting and ferry services, the latter linking the town to Portsmouth, England. Pop. (1999) 8,759; (2014 est.) 9,253.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.