a town of France, capital of the department of Loire, is situated at the foot of a high and steep rock, on the Vizézy, 37 miles W.S.W. of Lyons. The streets are narrow and crooked, and the houses poor and ill built. The town was formerly fortified; but the walls are now replaced by fine boulevards. It has a Gothic cathedral of the thirteenth century, a court-house, a college, and several schools. Manufactures and trade are carried on to a very trifling extent. Pop. (1851) 6435.