the capital of the arrondissement of the same name, in the department of Calvados in France. It stands in an extensive valley, on the left bank of the Orne, at the influx of the Odon, 9 miles from the English Channel, and 122 west of Paris. Lat. 49.11.12. N., Long. 0.21.38. W. The town is handsome and well built; the streets are generally wide, straight, and clean; and the houses, being built of freestone, have a very good appearance. The city contains several ancient churches and other edifices, fine specimens of the Norman style of architecture. Among these are the church of St Pierre, which is surmounted by a handsome stone spire, the finest in Normandy, and which is 242 feet in height; the churches of the Abbayes, Aux Hommes, and Aux Dames, both founded in 1066, the former by William the Conqueror, where a plain gray marble slab in the pavement now marks his tomb, which, however, has long since been emptied; and the latter by his queen Matilda, who was interred there. Caen is the seat of a high court of appeal for the departments of Calvados, Manche, and Orne, and has tribunals of primary instance and commerce, a chamber of commerce, a conseil de prud'hommes, a university, a royal college, a school of hydrography, an institution of deaf-mutes, a public library of 45,000 volumes, an extensive botanic garden, and a theatre. Population (1851) 40,569; while that of the arrondissement amounted to 139,922. The commerce and manufactures of Caen are considerable. It exports corn, wine, brandy, fruit, cattle, stones, hardware, &c. Its manufactures consist chiefly of laces, caps, table-linen, cotton fabrics, earthenware, cutlery, &c.; it has also breweries, dye-works, and shipbuilding yards. Several large fairs are annually held here. At high water, vessels of 150 or 160 tons can come up to the town, and a canal to connect it with the sea is in course of construction, which will render it accessible to large vessels.

Though Caen is not a town of great antiquity, yet the date of its foundation is unknown. In the ninth century it existed under the name of Cathem or Catham; and when in 912 Neustria was ceded to the Normans by Charles the Simple, it was a large and important city. Under the Dukes of Normandy, and particularly under William the Conqueror, it rapidly increased. This last prince, with his spouse Matilda, contributed much to its embellishment. It became the capital of Lower Normandy, and in 1346 was besieged and taken by Edward III. of England. It was again taken by the English in 1417, and retained by them till 1459, when it capitulated to the French, in whose possession it has since continued.

CERE (Κάρη), called by the Greeks Agylla (Αγγύλλα), a city of Southern Etruria, near the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea. Its site is occupied by the modern Cerreti (Care vetus). From the inhabitants being admitted to the privilege of Roman citizens, but without the right of suffrage, the Carite franchise came to be a proverbial expression denoting disfranchisement. Interesting Etruscan remains have been found in the tombs of Care. (See Dennis' Cities and Cemeteries of Etruria, vol. ii.)