Güines

Guînes
Drawbridge and canal
Coat of arms
Guînes
Location within Hauts-de-France region  Guînes
Coordinates: 50°52′07″N 1°52′28″E / 50.8686°N 1.8744°E / 50.8686; 1.8744Coordinates: 50°52′07″N 1°52′28″E / 50.8686°N 1.8744°E / 50.8686; 1.8744
Country	France
Region	Hauts-de-France
Department	Pas-de-Calais
Arrondissement	Calais
Canton	Calais-2
Intercommunality	Communauté de communes des Trois Pays
Government
• Mayor	Marc Médine
Area1	26.42 km2 (10.20 sq mi)
Population (2010)2	5,644
• Density	210/km2 (550/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code	62397 / 62340
Elevation	0–166 m (0–545 ft) (avg. 6 m or 20 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Guînes is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in northern France. Historically it was spelt Guisnes.

Guînes is located on the border of the two territories of the Boulonnais and Calaisis, at the edge of the now-drained marshes, which extend from here to the coast. The Guînes canal connects with Calais.

Historically, Guînes was the capital of a small county of the same name.

After the Romans left, in the 5th century, there is little known about the town. In the Dark Ages, according to legend, the territory of Guînes became the property of one Aigneric, Mayor of the Palace of the Burgundian king Théodebert II.

In 928, when the Danes invaded and seized the place, it was probably a defenceless village. A fenced mound and a double ditch would soon have been created by the Danes. This is the origin of the castle of Guînes. Arnulf I, Count of Flanders, realizing a counter-attack would be costly, arranged the marriage of his daughter Elstrude, to Sigfrid, the Danish leader, bestowing upon him the title of Count of Guînes but as vassal to him, the Count of Flanders. Under Sigfrid’s successors, the county of Guînes acquired considerable importance. At the beginning of the 11th century, Count Manassès founded a convent of the order of Saint-Benoit. This was placed under the jurisdiction of the nearby abbey of Saint Léonard. At that time, Guînes comprised three parishes within its walls, whose churches were dedicated to Saint Bertin, Saint Pierre and Saint Médard. Outside the town ramparts were the abbey of Saint Léonard, the church of Saint-Blaise, in the hamlet of Melleke, and the leper-house of Saint Quentin, in the hamlet of Spelleke (in Tournepuits).