VIENNE. The capita] of an arrondissement in the Department of 'Ore, France, on the left bank of the Rhone, 20 miles by rail south of Lyons (Map: France, L 6). The Rhone, spanned here by a suspension bridge, is joined by the Gere, which flows through the town. Vienne is picturesquely situated among low hills. but poor ly built and ill kept. The ancient ruins and antiquities are numerous. The Roman aqueducts.
restored in 1S22, supply the town with water. The remarkable Corinthian temple of Augustus and Livia, rebuilt in the second century, re sembles the Maison-Carree at Nimes. It is SS feet long and adorned with columns. The town has also some immense arches. now thought to be long to a Roman edifice. The Plan d'Aiguille, a pyramidal structure resting on arches, was for merly pointed out as Pilate's tomb, but is ROW recognized as a probable goal of an ancient circus. The Gothic Cathedral of Saint Maurice (twelfth to sixteenth century), with its two tow ers, facade, and balustrade, produces an attrac tive effect. The ruins of the Chilteau de la
Blitie are picturesque. There are a library and a museum (rich in Roman remains), a Musee Lapidaire, and a handsome modern It tdel de Ville. The value of the annual production of textiles is about $4,000,000. Gloves, cutlery, glass, paper, woolen caps, and leather are manu factured and there are foundries and brass works. The trade, by rail and river, is im portant, especially in wine, and there are iron and silver mines near. Population, in 1901, 24,619.
Vienne, the capital of the Allobroges, became a Roman colony, and was the earliest centre of Christianity in Gaul. It was the capital of the first and second Burgundian kingdoms. in 1349, with the rest of Dauphine, it passed to France. The ecumenical council which abolished the order of the Knights Templars was held here in 1311-12.