CHARENTON-LE-PONT, a town of France in the department of Seine, situated on the right bank of the Maine, near its confluence with the Seine, a short distance south-east of Paris, of which it may almost be regarded as a suburb. It derives the distinctive part of its name from the stone bridge of ten arches which crosses the Marne and unites the town with the village of Alfort, famous for its veterinary school. It has always been regarded as a point of great importance for the defence of the capital, and has frequently been the scene of sanguinary conflicts. Of its fortifications the most important is the Fort de Charenton, which lies on the left bank of the river near Alfort. In the 16th and 17th centuries Charenton was the scene of the ecclesiastical councils of the Protestant party, which had its principal church in the town. At present its most remarkable institution is the lunatic asylum, or Maison de Santé, which was originally founded by Le Blanc in 1664 as a general hospital, and only received its present appropriation by a decree of the tenth year of the Republic. In 1814 the bridge was gallantly defended by the pupils of the veterinary school against the Austrians and Würtembergers. Population in 1872, 7141.