MACON, a town of east-central France, capital of the depart ment of SaOne-et-Loire, 45 m. N. of Lyons on the Paris-Lyon railway. Pop. (1931) 15,848. Macon (Matisco) was an important town of the Aedui, but under the Romans it was supplanted by Autun and Lyons. It suffered at the hands of the Germans, Bur gundians, Vandals, Huns, Hungarians and even of the Carolingian kings. In the feudal period it was an important countship sold in 1228 to the king of France, but at times in the possession of the dukes of Burgundy until the ownership of the French Crown was established in the time of Louis XI. In the 16th century Macon became a stronghold of the Huguenots, but afterwards fell to the League, and only yielded to Henry IV. in 1594. The bishop ric, created by King Childebert, was suppressed in 1790.
Macon is situated on the Saone facing the plain of the Bresse; a bridge of 12 arches connects it with the suburb of St. Laurent
on the opposite bank. The modern Romanesque church of St. Pierre is a large three-naved basilica. Of the old cathedral of St. Vincent (12th and 13th centuries), destroyed at the Revolution, nothing remains but the Romanesque narthex, now used as a chapel, the façade and its two flanking towers. The hotel de ville contains a library, a theatre and picture-gallery. Macon is the seat of a prefecture, and has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, and a chamber of commerce. Copper-founding is an important industry, also printing; manufactures include casks, mats, esparto articles, powders, rope and utensils for the wine-trade. The town has a large trade in wine of the district, known as Macon. The railways from Paris to Marseilles and from Mont Cenis to Geneva, with a branch from Moulins here are joined.