The Column of Louis XVIII

With its elegant silhouette, this white stone column in the Courgain Maritime district commemorates a rather curious moment in Calais’s history. Let’s rewind a bit: after Napoleon’s defeat at the Battle of Waterloo and his exile to Elba, France found itself without a ruler. That’s when Louis XVIII was invited to reclaim the French throne. He accepted—from England, where he’d spent 23 years in exile—and chose to return via Calais, the shortest route to Paris. Greeted with great ceremony by the city’s dignitaries, the soon-to-be king stayed just two days before continuing on to the capital. Today, this column—and the plaque bearing the imprint of the royal foot—stands as a reminder of that historic stopover. It was officially listed as a historic monument in 1933.