Valence

Valence, capital of the French dept. of Drôme, is on the left bank of the Rhone (crossed by an iron bridge), below the mouth of the Isère, and 66 miles by rail S. of Lyons. It contains several interesting Renaissance buildings, an 11th-century cathedral (with a monument of Pius VI., who died here in 1799), an 18th-century Protestant temple, normal schools, a communal college, &c. Dyeing and the manufacture of silk, glass, and iron are carried on, besides a busy trade in the produce of the Isère valley. Pop. (1891) 22,947.