(the ancient Catalaunii or Duro-catalaunii), the capital of an arrondissement of the same name, and of the department of Marne, France, stands on the right bank of the Marne, here crossed by a fine stone bridge, 98 miles east of Paris, with which it is connected by a railway. In early times this was a place of considerable importance, having been embellished and fortified by the Romans; and was the scene of two celebrated battles, the one fought in 273, when Tetricus was defeated by the forces of Aurelian, and the other in 451, when Attila, king of the Huns, was defeated by Aetius and his allies. Chalons is irregularly and ill built, surrounded by old walls, the houses being mostly of wood, lath, and plaster. It has, however, some fine public buildings, as the cathedral, originally built about 450, and mostly rebuilt in 1672; the churches of Notre Dame, St Alpin, and St Jean, town-hall, barracks, and the residence of the prefect. It is the seat of a bishopric, and has tribunals of primary instance and commerce, an agricultural society, communal college, two seminaries, schools of arts and trades, theatre, and a public library of 20,000 volumes. The Jard is a magnificent promenade to the east of the town, covering an area of 19 acres. Chalons has manufactures of woollen, linen, and cotton goods, leather, &c., and a considerable trade in corn, wine, hemp, and wool. Pop. (1851) 14,468.

CHALONS-sur-SAÔNE (the ancient Cabilloum), a town of France, capital of the arrondissement of the same name in the department of Saône-et-Loire, 63 miles north of Lyons. It is a neat and well built town, pleasantly situated in an extensive plain on the right bank of the Saône, at the mouth of the Canal du Centre, and having on the opposite bank of the river its suburb St Laurent, with which it is connected by a fine old stone bridge. The chief structures are the cathedral, a Gothic edifice of the latter part of the thirteenth century, and occupying the site of a church founded in 532; the church of St Pierre, with two lofty steeples; the hospitals of St Laurent and St Louis; town-hall; an obelisk erected in 1793 to commemorate the opening of the canal, and several public fountains. It has tribunals of primary instance and commerce, an exchange, agricultural society, communal college, and a public library of 10,000 volumes. Its manufactures are extensive and various, among which is essence d'orient, prepared from the scales of the bleak (Cyprinus Allurnus), and used for the fabrication of mock pearls. Its commerce is very considerable and flourishing, as the town is an entrepot of goods both for the north and south of France. Pop. (1851) 15,719. Chalons was the capital of the old division of Chalonnais, in the province of Burgundy.