EPINAL, a town on the north-eastern frontier of France, capital of the department of Vosges, 46 m. S.S.E. of Nancy on the Eastern railway between that town and Belfort. Pop. (1931) 22,921. Epinal grew round a loth century monastery, founded by Theodoric (Dietrich) I., bishop of Metz, whose successors ruled the town till when its inhabitants placed themselves under King Charles VII. In 1466 it was transferred to the duchy of Lorraine, and in 1766 it was, along with that duchy, incorporated with France. It was occupied by the Germans in the Franco Prussian War. The town proper—the Grande Ville—stands on the right bank of the Moselle, which here divides into two arms forming an island whereon another quarter—the Petite Ville—is built. The lesser of these two arms, which is canalized, separates the island from the suburb of Hospice on its left bank. On the right bank of the Moselle a park surrounds the ruins of an old stronghold which dominated the Grande Ville from a height on the east. The church of St. Goery (or St. Maurice) preserves a tower of the 12th century. The old hospital on the island-quarter contains a museum with paintings, Gallo-Roman antiquities, sculp ture, etc. Close by stands the library, which possesses many valuable mss.
The fortifications of Epinal are connected southward with Bel fort, Dijon and Besancon, by the fortified line of the Moselle, and north of it lies the unfortified zone called the Trouee d'Epinal, a gap between Epinal and Toul, another great fortress. The circle of forts, with a perimeter of nearly 3o m., was in 1895 reinforced by the construction of sixteen new works.
Epinal is the seat of a prefect and of a court of assizes and has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a board of trade arbitrators, a chamber of commerce and an industrial and com mercial school. The town, which is important as the centre of a cotton-spinning region, carries on the spinning, weaving and print ing of cotton and the manufacture of glucose, embroidery and hats. An industry peculiar to Epinal is the production of cheap images, lithographs and engravings. There is also trade in wine, grain, live-stock and starch products made in the vicinity. Epinal is an important junction on the Eastern railway.