Briançon

Briançon (ancient Brigantium), a town in the French department of Hautes-Alpes, 162 miles NNE. of Marseilles by rail, on the right bank of the Durance, which is here spanned by a bridge of a single arch 130 feet wide. It is the highest town in France, being situated at an elevation of 4330 feet above the sea-level. As the principal arsenal and depot of the French Alps, it is so strongly fortified as to be deemed impregnable. There is some transit trade. Pop. 3638.