VALENCE, a city in France, capital of the department of Deane, is situated in a fertile plain on the left bank of the RhOne a few miles below the junction of the Ieere, on the Paris•Lyon-Marseille railway, 351 miles S.S.E. from Paris, 65 miles S. from Lyon, and 143 miles N. by W. from Marseille, in 44' 56' N. lat, 4' 53' 40' E. long., at an elevation of 421 feet above the level of the sea; and had 13,829 inhabit ants in the commune at the census of 1551.
Valence occupies the site of the Roman Valentia. It was a place of considerable strength, and afforded a refuge to Constantine, who was fruitlessly besieged here by Sarus the Goth. Jovinus sought refuge here, but the town was taken by the Visigoths, under their king Atanlfus. It was afterwards subject to the Burgundian, and passed from them to the Franks. In the middle ages it formed part of the kingdom of Arles, and was the capital of the Valentinoia, a district of Dauphin& The territory of Valsotinois was made a duchy and con ferred by Louis XII. on Cmsar Borgia.
The town is united by an iron suspension•bridge with the famous wine district of St-Wray on the right bank of the Rhone. It is ill laid out, with winding and narrow streets, and ill built; it is sur rounded by old walla, flanked with towers, and entered by several arched gateway.. The high road from Paris and Lyon to Marseille skirts the wall on the outside and passes through the southern suburb of Sauninre. On the north side of the town is a citadel, fronting a parade or exercise-ground planted with trees. The principal buildings
are—the cathedral of St.-Apollinaire, which contains a monument by Canova of Pope Pius VI. (who died here August 29th, 1799); the former residence of the bishop; the prefect's residence, formerly an abbey, with extensive gardens; the house in which Pius VL resided ; a house in the Grande Rue, the front of which is a rich specimen of gothic architecture; the court-house; the barracks ; and the theatre. There are two public walks. There era scarcely any Roman remains existing at Valence.
The manufactures of Valence comprise cotton•yarn, printed cottons, silks, gloves, hosiery, and cutlery; there are dye-houses, tan-yards, rope-walks, saw-yards for marble, tile-yards, potteries, lime-kilus, and a great number of cartwrights' shops. Trade is carried on in the wines, fruits, and silks of the south of France ; in brandy, liqueurs, corn, and manufactured goods : there are six fairs in the year. Steamers ply daily to Avignou and Lyon. The well-known Hermitage and St-Pdray winos are grown In the neighbourhood of Valence. [Anniens ; Moue.) Valence gives title to a bishop whose diocese consists of the depart ment of DrOme. It has tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a college, an ecclesiastical school, a school of artillery (in which Napo leon I. was a pupil from 1785 to 1791), and a public library of 15,000 volumes.