BOULOGNE - SUR -NEER, bM'Io'ny'-sur-mile (Fr_ Boulogne on the sea: anciently, Gesoriaeum, Bononia). A fortified seaport in the Department of Pas-de-Calais, France (.11ap: France. 11 1 ). It stands at the mouth of the river Liane, on the English Channel, 22 miles southwest of Calais, and 139 north-northwest of Paris. The city is divided into the upper and lower, or the old and new districts. The upper city was once a great stronghold. and its ramparts arc now spacious boulevards. commanding a fine marine view, with the coast of England as a horizon. At the east end stands an old castle with six turrets, which dates from 1231. In this part of the city are the fine Mite] de Ville and the Cathedral of Notre Dame, in Grwco-Roman style, with a colossal statue of the Virgin surmounting the dome. which is 300 feet in height. The building was erected (1827-66) on the site of a Gothic cathedral destroyed in 1793. The lower or new town is the centre of modern trade and social life—merchants, pleasure-seekers, fisher men, and factory hands throng the streets, which are broad, clean, and bright. The beautiful sands are crowded in summer by bathers, etc., and the line pier is a pleasant promenade. One of the chief objects of interest is the marble Column of the Grand Army, 176 feet high, surmounted by a bronze statue of Napoleon I., commemorating
his projected invasion of England. In the lower town stand the barracks, the theatre, the museum of art, a hospital, and a library. While the in dustries include the manufacture of steel pens, linen thread, carriages, glass. tubes, cement, etc., the main source of wealth of Boulogne is the sea, and the oyster, herring, cod, and mackerel fish eries. Boulogne is one of the most frequented terminals of steamer routes from England, and a large English colony is found there. Population. in 1896, 46,807. Gesoriaeum was a fortress of the Gallic tribe of the Alorini. In the time of Constantine the place was called Bononia. Un der the Carlovingians the name was changed to Bolonia. After the death of Charlemagne the Normans sacked it; it was taken by the Bur gundians in 1435, and held until Louis XI. added it to the French Kingdom in 1477. It was be sieged by Henry VII. of England in 1492, taken by henry VIII. in 1544. but restored to France by Edward VI. in 1550. It was at Boulogne that Napoleon J., in 1804, assembled an army 180,000 strong fur the invasion of England, which, how ever, was not attempted. On August 6, 1840, Louis Napoleon attempted to raise here an in surrection in his favor. He was imprisoned in the castle.