The New International Encyclopædia/Falaise

FALAISE, fȧ'lắz'. The capital of an arrondissement in the Department of Calvados, France, on the Ante, 31 miles southeast of Caen by rail (Map: France, F 3). It is built on a bluff (falaise), whence its name. The chief buildings are the two Gothic churches, the hospital, the public library, and the ruined castle, once the seat of the dukes of Normandy, and the birthplace of William the Conqueror, a statue of whom stands on the Place Saint Gervais. In the castle, the chamber in which the Conqueror was born is shown, as well as a round tower, 130 feet high, called ‘Talbot's’ tower, which was built by Talbot, who was lord warden of the district, after the capture of Falaise by Henry V. of England. Falaise has manufactures of cottons, hosiery, and bobbinet. An important annual horse and cattle fair, dating from the eleventh century, is held in August, at Guibray, a suburb. Population, in 1901, 7657.