MELUN, a town of France, capital of the department of Seine-et-Marne, is pleasantly situated on the Seine, 27 miles S.S.E. of Paris. The town stands on both sides of the river, especially on a slope on the right bank, and partly on an island joined by two bridges to the other parts of the town. The oldest part of Melun is that on the island; and it is well, though irregularly built, containing a large prison, a ruined palace, and the church of Notre Dame. The part on the right bank, called St Aspais, includes a large and regularly built square, an old Gothic church, the ruins of an old abbey, the prefecture, formerly a Benedictine abbey, a theatre, baths, &c. On the left side of the river stand the cavalry barracks. The town has a public library, as well as a college and several schools. Melun has manufactures of woollen and linen cloth, leather, china, plaster, &c.; and there is a considerable trade in grain. This town was anciently called Melodunum, and was taken by the Romans under Labienus, one of Cæsar's generals. It was afterwards captured by the English under Henry V. in 1420, but was recovered by the French fifteen years afterwards. Pop. (1851) 7528.