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COUTANCES

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Originally appearing in Volume V07, Page 337 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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COUTANCES , a See also:

town of See also:north-western See also:France, See also:capital of an See also:arrondissement of the See also:department of See also:Manche, 7 M. E. of the See also:English Channel and 58 m. S. of See also:Cherbourg on the Western railway. Pop. (1906) 6089. Coutances is beautifully situated on the right See also:bank of the Soulle on a granitic See also:eminence crowned by the celebrated See also:cathedral of Notre-See also:Dame. The date of this See also:church has been much disputed, but while traces of Romanesque See also:architecture survive, the See also:building is, in the See also:main, See also:Gothic in See also:style and See also:dates from the first See also:half of the 13th See also:century. The slender turrets massed See also:round the western towers and the octagonal central See also:tower, which forms a See also:lantern within, are conspicuous features of the church. In the interior, which comprises the See also:nave with aisles, See also:transept and See also:choir with See also:ambulatory and See also:side chapels, there are See also:fine See also:rose-windows with stained See also:glass of the 14th century, and other See also:works of See also:art. Of the other buildings of Coutances the church of St See also:Pierre, in which See also:Renaissance architecture is mingled with Gothic, and that of St See also:Nicolas, of the 16th and 17th centuries, demand mention. There is an See also:aqueduct of the 14th century to the See also:west of the town. Coutances is a quiet town with winding streets and pleasant boulevards bordering it on the See also:east; on the western slope of the See also:hill there is a public See also:garden.

The town is the seat of a See also:

bishop, a See also:court of assizes and a sub-See also:prefect; it has tribunals of first instance and of See also:commerce, a lycee for boys, a communal See also:college and a training college for girls, and an ecclesiastical See also:seminary. See also:Leather-dressing and See also:wool-See also:spinning are carried on and there is See also:trade in live-stock, in agricultural produce, especially eggs, and in See also:marble. Coutances is the See also:ancient Cosedia, which before the See also:Roman See also:conquest was one of the See also:chief towns in the See also:country of the Unelli. Towards the end of the 3rd century its name was changed to See also:Constantia, in See also:honour of the See also:emperor See also:Constantius Chlorus, who fortified it. It became the capital of the pagus See also:Constantinus (Cotentin), and in the See also:middle ages was the seat of a See also:viscount. It has been an episcopal see since the 5th century. 'In the 17th century it was the centre of the revolt of the Nu-pieds, caused by the See also:imposition of the See also:salt-tax (See also:gabelle). A See also:good bibliography of See also:general works and monographs on the See also:archaeology and the See also:history of the town and See also:diocese of Coutances is given in U. See also:Chevalier, Repertoire See also:des See also:sources, &'c., Topo-Bibliographie (See also:Montbeliard, 1894-1899), S.V.

End of Article: COUTANCES

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