BLOIS, blwii (Med. Lat. Blesum, Blesis, Bleza). The capital of the Department of Loir et-Cher, France, finely situated on the slopes of a hill, on the right bank of the Loire, 35 miles southwest of Orleans (Map: France, II 4). The main street traverses a hollow, flanked by eleva tions, dominated respectively by the castle and the cathedral. The streets in the upper part of the town are narrow and tortuous, and the houses mean and ill built. Besides the Cathedral of Saint Louis, a structure in bastard Gothic, the most notable ecclesiastical edifice is the abbey Church of Saint Nicolas, built in 1138-1210. Blois's educational establishments comprise a col lege, teachers' school, two seminaries, a museum, and library. It has manufactures of wearing ap parel, porcelain, and chocolate. A fine aqueduct of Roman origin, cut in the solid rock, supplies the city with water. A bridge across the Loire connects Blois with the suburb of Vienne. The most interesting edifice of the city is the old cas tle, situated on the highest ground. The earliest part dates from the Thirteenth Century, while the finest portion, the Francis I. wing, with its
admirable staircase, ascending within a project ing pentagonal tower, adorned with exquisite carvings both outside and inside, was built in the Sixteenth Century, and is a masterpiece of the early French Renaissance. The outer as well as the inner facades are richly decorated. The cas tle has been the scene of many interesting his torical events. Louis XII. was born in it, and under its roof Charles, Due d'Aleneon, and Margaret of Anjou were married. The courts of Francis T., Henry II., Charles IX., and Henry Ill. were held here oceasionally, and in the cas tle the Duke of Guise and his brother were murdered, by order of Henry III., on December 23, 1588. Isabella, queen of Charles VI., here found a retreat; it served as a prison for Maria de' Medici; Catharine de' Medici died within its walls; and Maria Louisa held her Court here in 1814, after Paris had capitulated. Population, in 1896, 23.542. Consult Le Nail, Le Château de Blois (Paris, 1874).