Calvados

Maritime département in the northwestern region of Basse-Normandie, France; area 5,536 sq km/2,137 sq mi; population (1999 est) 648,400. Calvados is best known for the local brandy of the same name, which is distilled from cider apples grown in the extensive orchards of the Pays d'Auge, east of the departmental capital of Caen. Other major towns are Bayeux, Lisieux, and the holiday resort of Deauville.

The south of Calvados is hilly, while the area nearer the coast contains numerous fertile valleys that provide good pasturage. Dairy goods such as cream and cheese are widely produced, while fishing is undertaken from the ports of Trouville and Honfleur. The principal manufactures are textiles and iron.

The rocky coast bordering the English Channel here is extremely treacherous; a galleon from the Spanish Armada of 1588 - the Calvados - that foundered on rocks between the mouth of the rivers Orne and Vire gave the reef, and thereafter the département, its name. Lighthouses are placed at the mouth of the rivers Touques, Dives, Orne, and Vire.