I don't know how many times I walked past this fine building on Calais' Rue Royale before realising it used to be a cinema. If you were to visit Calais as a foot passenger, you could walk to this building in around 15 minutes from when the passenger bus dumps you at the front of the ferry terminal. Once you know of the Crystal's history, it's painfully obvious that this was once a movie palace; the exterior remains largely unchanged, with a "Casino" sign now in place of the one which once read "Cinema". The Crystal was constructed in the 1950s, alongside countless other buildings which were put up as part of a massive rebuilding programme in the city following WW2; Calais was virtually razed to the ground during the war, although the magnificent 13th-century Tour du Guet -- a mere stone's throw from the Crystal -- somehow survived.
Sadly, Cinéma Crystal wasn't around for all that long, and by the 1970s the 600-seat establishment had closed down, with the building subsequently housing a casino which is still going strong -- meaning it's now been there for roughly twice as long as the cinema was. It's a pity that the cinema's lifespan was relatively short, but I suppose by the 70s the market was changing -- as were tastes and fashions -- and the increasing popularity (and availability) of TV was also chipping away at the status of cinemas. You're quite free to have a wander around inside, and it all feels quite grand. While its current use may not be the one it was originally intended for, it's nonetheless heartening to think of how this building -- like so many in the city -- sprang from the rubble of 1945.
