LAON, Rix. A fortress and the capital of the Department of .Aisne, France, situated on an iso lated bill, S7 miles northeast of Paris by rail (Nap: France, K 2). It has numerous ancient buildings and three gates belonging to its thir tcentffieentu•y fortifications. The Cathedral of Notre Dame is a line Gothic edifice, begun in the middle of the twelfth century and finished in 1225. It is surmounted with numerous towers, some of them unfinished, and the two flanking the facade being adorned with huge oxen, said to commemorate the animals used in the trans portation of the stone for the building. Another noteworthy church is that of Saint Martin itwelfth century) in Transition style. The Valais de .Justice occupies the thirteenth-cen tury episcopal palace, and the prefecture is housed in the former Abbey of Saint Jean (twelfth century). The educational institutions comprise a lyeee, a communal college, a normal school, a line library rich in MSS. and auto graphs. a 11111,;ellIn of local antiquities. and a theatre. Laon manufactures linen and other tex
tiles and metal products. It is noted for its fruits and vegetables. Population, in 1891, 14,12.9; in 1901, 15,434. Laon is first mentioned as Laudunum in the fifth century. It was ford lied by the Romans and eventually attained great importance in the kingdom of the Franks; in the tenth century it was the residence of the Car olingian kings. During the twelfth and thir teenth centuries the place suffered consider ably in the struggles with its bishops. The bishopric of Laon, founded at the beginning of the sixth century, was abolished in 1789. In modern times Laon is associated with the defeat of the French under Napoleon by the Germans under BRicher in 1814. In 1S7() Laon capitu lated to the Germans, hut the entrance of the conquering army into the town was marked by the blowing up of the powder-magazine by a French private, with the result that over 500 people were killed and wounded and the town was considerably damaged.