ANGERS, capital of the department of Maine-et-Loire, west France, 191 m. S.W. of Paris by the Western railway to Nantes. Pop. (1931) 77,327. It occupies rising ground on both banks of the Maine, crossed by three bridges. The old town, on the left bank, is dominated by the cathedral and massive castle, and encircled by boulevards. On the right bank is the low-lying "Quartier de la Doutre." Angers is among the most handsome of French towns. Capital of the Gallic tribe of the Andegavi, it was known to the Romans as Juliomagus. During the 9th century it became the seat of the counts of Anjou (q.v.). It suffered severely from the invasions of the Northmen after 845 and of the English in the 12th and 15th centuries; the Huguenots took it in 1585, and the Vendean royalists were repulsed near it in Till the Revolution, Angers had a celebrated university (14th century). The cathedral of St. Maurice (12th and 13th centuries) has an unusually high west front, with three towers. The incon gruous central tower (i6th century) has a series of eight warriors carved on its base. The vaulting of the interior takes the form of a series of cupolas. There are rich stained-glass windows (i 2th and i6th centuries) and valuable tapestries (i4th and i8th centuries). The adjoining bishop's palace contains a fine synodal hall (12th century). Other churches are St. Serge, an abbey church (12th and 15th centuries), and La Trinite (12th century). The prefecture occupies the famous abbey of St. Aubin ; the court yard has elaborately sculptured arcades and there is a tower surviving from the abbey church (both of the Iith and 12th centuries). Ruins of the old churches of Toussaint (13th century) and Notre-Dame du Ronceray (I ith century) are also to be seen. The castle of Angers (13th century), girt with towers and a moat, is now used as an armoury. The hospital of St. Jean (12th century) is occupied by an archaeological museum; and the Logis Barrault, a Renaissance house, contains the public library, the municipal museum with pictures and sculptures, and the Musee David, containing works by the famous native sculptor David d'Angers. The Hotel de Pince or d'Anjou (1523-30) is a fine stone mansion. Many wooden houses of the 15th and i6th centuries remain. Angers is the seat of a bishopric, dating from the 3rd century, a prefecture, a court of appeal and a court of assizes. It has a tribunal of first instance, a tribunal of commerce, a board of trade-arbitrators, a chamber of commerce, and several learned societies. The ancient university was resuscitated in as the "Universite Catholique de l'Ouest."_ There are several free faculties (facultes libres). The prosperity of the town is largely due to the great slate-quarries in the vicinity (whence its old name Black Angers) ; other products are liqueurs (from fruit), cables, ropes, thread, boots and shoes. The weaving of sail-cloth and woollen and other fabrics, machine construction, nursery gardening and the making of umbrellas are carried on. The chief articles of commerce, besides slate and French and Swedish iron goods, are hemp, early vegetables, fruit, flowers, wine, oil, leather and live stock. Angers is the ancient capital of Anjou, and its people are still known as Angevins.