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CHATEAUDUN

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Originally appearing in Volume V05, Page 963 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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CHATEAUDUN , a See also:

town of See also:north central See also:France, See also:capital of an See also:arrondissement in the See also:department of See also:Eure-et-Loir, 28 M. S.S.W. of See also:Chartres by See also:rail. Pop. (1906) 58o5. It stands on an See also:eminence near the See also:left See also:bank of the See also:Loire. The streets, which are straight and See also:regular, radiate from a central square, a uniformity due to the reconstruction of the town after fires in 1723 and 187o. The See also:chateau, the most remarkable See also:building in the town, was built in See also:great See also:part by See also:Jean, See also:count of See also:Dunois, and his descendants. Founded in the loth See also:century, and rebuilt in the 12th and 15th centuries, it consists of a See also:principal wing with a See also:fine See also:staircase of the 16th century, and, at right angles, a smaller wing adjoined by a See also:chapel. To the left of the courtyard thus formed rises a lofty keep of the 12th century. The fine apartments and huge kitchens of the chateau are in keeping with its imposing exterior. The See also:church of La Madeleine See also:dates from the 12th century; the buildings of the See also:abbey to which it be-longed are occupied by the subprefecture, the See also:law See also:court and the See also:hospital. The See also:medieval churches of St Valerien and St Jean and the ruined chapel of Notre-See also:Dame du Champde, of which the See also:facade in the See also:Renaissance See also:style now forms the entrance to the See also:cemetery, are other notable buildings.

The public institutions include a tribunal of first instance and a communal See also:

college. See also:Flour-milling, tanning and See also:leather-dressing, and the manufacture of blankets, See also:silver See also:jewelry, nails and machinery are the prominent See also:industries. See also:Trade is in See also:cattle, See also:grain, See also:wool and See also:hemp. Chateaudun (Castrodunum), which dates from the Gallo-See also:Roman See also:period, was in the See also:middle ages the capital of the countship of Dunois. CHATEAU-GONTIER, a town of western France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of See also:Mayenne, on the Mayenne, 18 m. S. by E. of See also:Laval by road. Pop. (1906) 6871. Of its churches, that of St Jean, a relic of the See also:castle, dates from the 1th century. Chateau-Gontier is the seat of a sub-See also:prefect and has a tribunal of first instance, a communal college for boys and a small museum. It carries on wool- and See also:cotton-See also:spinning, the manufacture of serge, See also:flannel and oil, and is an agricultural See also:market. There are chalybeate springs See also:close to the town.

Chateau-Gontier owes its origin and its name to a castle erected in the first See also:

half of the 1th century by See also:Gunther, the steward of See also:Fulk Nerra of See also:Anjou, on the site of a See also:farm belonging to the monks of St See also:Aubin d'See also:Angers. On the extinction of the See also:family, the lordship was assigned by See also:Louis XI. to Philippe de See also:Comines. The town suffered severely during the See also:wars of the See also:League. In 1793 it was occupied by the Vendeans.

End of Article: CHATEAUDUN

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