Douai (French: [dwɛ] ⓘ; UK: /ˈduːeɪ/;[3] US: /duːˈeɪ/;[3][4] Picard: Doï; Dutch: Dowaai; formerly spelled Douay or Doway in English) is a city in the Nord département in northern France.

[5] Located on the river Scarpe some 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Lille and 25 km (16 mi) from Arras, Douai is home to one of the region's most impressive belfries.

The town became a flourishing textile market centre during the Middle Ages, historically known as Douay or Doway in English.

The originals, some dating from 1391, were removed in 1917 during World War I by the occupying German forces, who intended to melt them down for the metal.

An additional larger bell in the summit, a La called "Joyeuse", dates from 1471 and weighs 5.5 tonnes.

The Gare de Douai railway station is served by regional trains to Lille, Arras, Lens, Amiens, Saint-Quentin and Valenciennes.

It connects to the TGV network, with high speed trains to Paris, Lyon, Nantes and other places.

It was prominent, from the 1560s until the French Revolution, as a centre for the education of English Catholics escaping persecution in England.

The community was expelled at the time of the French Revolution in 1793 and, after some years of wandering, finally settled at Downside Abbey, Somerset, in 1814.

Later, following Waldeck-Rousseau's Law of Associations (1901), this community also returned to England in 1903, where it was established at Douai Abbey, near Reading.