World’s Longest Underwater Tunnel
Visit Dover, the best known port that connects England and France
The English city of Dover is the largest port for ferries connecting to Calais, already in France. It is between these two cities that is the narrowest area of the English Channel, which has always separated the two countries, sometimes allies and enemies.
Dover, Kent is in south east England. Its strategic position has been evident throughout history and archaeological findings show that it was through this area that people entered and left Britain.
Today, with air travel getting cheaper and cheaper and the Eurostar train crossing under the English Channel, tourism in Dover is changing. Still, there are some interesting places to visit in this area.
La Manche Channel
The name in English – English Channel; in French – La Manche
It is considered the arm of the Atlantic Ocean that communicates it with the North Sea, west of Europe, and separates the northwest of France from the island of Great Britain.
Data of interest
This channel was formed before the end of the last ice age, about 10,000 years ago, the whole of the British Isles was part of the European continent. When the phenomenon of retreating the ice occurs, it is then that a large lake is formed in the southeastern part of the present North Sea. A small strait connected the lake with the Atlantic Ocean in the Dover and Calais region.
Around 6500 a. n. and., a strong erosion swept the piece to definitively create the English Channel. From those years to the present, the action of the waves on the coasts has increased the width of the strait, an effect that continues today. In the English Channel you can see the largest tides in the world, which are spectacularly appreciated in the bay of Mont Saint-Michel.
Importance
The canal has always been and will be the best defense that Great Britain has; It has allowed it to intervene and avoid possible threats in European conflicts. He prevented Napoleon and Hitler from invading the country.
However, if there have been many invasions (or attempts) such as the Roman conquest of England by first Julius Caesar and then Claudius, the Anglo-Saxon conquest of England, the Norman conquest of both Normandy and England, the Invincible Armada against England, or the Normandy landing in France. It has also been the scene of many naval battles, such as the Battle of Portland, the Battle of La Houge and the encounter between the USS Kearsarge and the CSS Alabama.
This Canal has served as a common cultural and political link, from Celtic societies, the culture of the Roman Empire, the founding of Britain by settlers from Great Britain, to the Anglo-Norman State.
