Laon

Laon, chief town of the French department of Aisne, is situated on a steep isolated hill (594 feet), 87 miles by rail NE. of Paris. Occupying a naturally strong position, it has been a fortress since the 5th century; its citadel is surrounded with ruinous walls. From 515 to 1790 it was the seat of a bishop. The cathedral, a Gothic edifice of the 12th century with a handsome façade, and the bishop's palace, now used as a law-court, still remain. The inhabitants are noted market-gardeners, producing excellent artichokes and asparagus. In the 10th century the city was the place of residence of the Carlovingian kings, and capital of Francia. At Laon, on March 9 and 10, 1814, Napoleon I. was repulsed by the allies under Blücher and Bülow; and it surrendered to a German force on 9th September 1870, when the explosion of the powder-magazine by a French soldier cost some 500 lives. Pop. (1872) 10,243; (1891) 13,959.