the capital of an arrondissement of the same name, and also of the department of Loire et Cher in France, is pleasantly situated in the form of an amphitheatre on the steep slope of a hill on the right bank of the Loire, 35 miles S.W. of Orleans. The town itself cannot be said to be either handsome or well built; on the contrary, the houses are generally mean, and the streets narrow and crooked. It contains, however, several remarkable monuments of antiquity. The castle is an immense structure built at different periods, part of it as early as the thirteenth century. Here Louis XII. was born, and the Duke of Guise and his brother the cardinal basely murdered by the command of Henry III.

It is now used as barracks. Among its other remarkable buildings are the Hotel de Ville, the episcopal palace, now the Hotel of the Prefecture, the Cathedral, the Church of St. Vincent, &c. An ancient aqueduct, cut in the solid rock by the Romans, conveys the waters of several springs to a reservoir, whence they are distributed to different parts of the town. It is the seat of a bishopric founded by Louis XIV., and has a communal college, normal school, diocesan seminary, botanical garden, theatre, and public library. It manufactures gloves, hosiery, hardware, and leather, and has an extensive trade in wine, timber, brandy, &c. Population (1851) of town, 16,104; of arrondissement, 131,817.