NEVERS, a city of France, chief town of the department of Nièvre, and formerly capital of the countship of Nevers or Nivernais, is picturesquely situated at a height of 656 feet above the sea, on a hill commanding the right bank of the Loire at the confluence of the Nièvre, 158 miles south-south-east of Paris by the railway to Nîmes. It is the see of a bishop, and has a fine cathedral, which, dating from the 12 th and 14th centuries, but at present (1883) undergoing a complete restoration, is mainly notable for the fact that there is an apse above the crypt and another at the opposite end of the building. To the north of the nave rises a massive but highly-decorated tower. Of higher architectural interest as a remarkable specimen of the Romanesque style of Auvergne is the church of St Étienne, consecrated at the close of the 11th century, and belonging to an abbey affiliated to Cluny. The ducal palace at Nevers (now occupied by the courts of justice and a ceramic museum) was built in 1475 by J. de Clamecy, count of Nevers, and is one of the principal feudal edifices in central France. A middle tower, containing the great staircase, has its windows adorned by sculptures relating to the history of the house of Cleves. In front of the palace lies a wide open space with a fine view over the valley of the Loire. The Porte de Croux, dating from the end of the 14th century, is the only remnant of the old fortifications; it now contains a collection of sculptured stones and some Roman antiquities. The modern triumphal arch (18th century), the townhouse and library, the almshouses, and the mother-house •of the Nevers sisters of charity may also be mentioned. The Loire is crossed by a fine stone bridge of fifteen arches, and a cast-iron railway bridge. Up to 1880 there was ...