Hesdin is a commune of northern France. It is the chief town of the canton of Hesdin, in the arrondissement of Montreuil-sur-Mer , in the Pas-de-Calais département. Population (1999): 2,763 inhabitants.

Geography

The Canche river flows through the centre of the town.

History

Hesdin was a fief of the counts of Artois, vassals of the Counts of Flanders until 1180. When Philip, count of Flanders gave Artois as dowry to his niece Isabel de Hainault when she married Philip Augustus of France in 1180, Hesdin and the other seigneuries passed to France. Though subsequently the territory passed to the Dukes of Burgundy, Hesdin remained one of a handful of French strongholds, until in 1553 Emperor Charles V ordered the utter destruction of the old fortified town on a rise of ground and built the present town the following year, some 6 km from the original site, on the banks of the Canche. In 1639 the French laid siege to Hesdin and under Louis XIII, it was recaptured for France.

Thus, though Hesdin has an ancient name and 16th century structures, there is no mediveal town at all.

Sights

Hesdin is dominated by the central square, the Place d'Armes overlooked by the 16th-17th century town hall. The contemporary Church of Notre Dame was begun in 1565 and completed in 1685.

Miscellaneous

The best day to visit Hesdin is market day, Thursday, when a large range of goods can be purchased although the clothes and furnishing materials sold in the main square are not good value.

A good range of local produce can be purchased from the stalls in the surrounding streets.

Hesdin is twinned with the London Borough of Havering in London, England.