BELLEY, a town of France, capital of an arrondissement, de partment of Ain, 52m. S.E. of Bourg by the P.L.M. railway. Pop. It is situated on vine-covered hills at the southern extremity of the Jura, 3m. from the right bank of the Rhone. Belley is of Roman origin. It was the capital of the province of Bugey, a dependency of Savoy till 1601, when it was ceded to France. In 1385 it was destroyed by fire and rebuilt by the dukes of Savoy. The cathedral of St. Jean has a choir dating from 1413. The manufacture of morocco leather goods and the quarrying of the lithographic stone found in the vicinity are car ried on, and there is trade in cattle, grain, wine, truffles and dressed pork. Belley is the seat of a bishop ( 5th century onwards) and has a prefect, and a tribunal of first instance.