a town of France, capital of an arrondissement and of the department of Hautes Pyrenees, on the left bank of the Adour, 23 miles E.S.E. of Pau. It occupies a fine situation in a flat and fertile country, and commands a view of the Pyrenees in the distance. It has broad clean streets with well-built houses, generally low and roofed with slates. There are three handsome squares and several public walks in the vicinity. The town was formerly surrounded with walls, but these have now entirely disappeared; although the old castle of the Counts of Bigorre still stands, and is used as a prison. The cathedral of Tarbes is a modern building not very remarkable, and the town has several other churches, a former Episcopal palace, now the residence of the prefect, an hospital, college, normal seminary, and theatre. Paper and leather are manufactured here, and a considerable trade is carried on in iron, wine, hides, cattle, corn, &c. Tarbes was once one of the principal towns of Aquitaine. For a long time it belonged to the English monarchs, and it was the residence of the Black Prince. In 1814 a combat took place here between the British and the French, in which the former gained the victory. Tarbes was the birthplace of Barere, who played so conspicuous a part in the first French revolution. Pop. (1856) 13,120.