NIORT, a city of France, chief town of the department of Deux Sèvres, distant 255 miles south-west of Paris by the railway to Poitiers and La Rochelle (here crossed by the line from Angers to Angoulême), is situated at the head of navigation of the Sèvre Niortaise, partly in the valley and partly on the slopes of the enclosing hills. The tower of the church of Notre Dame (16th century) has a spire 246 feet high, with bell-turrets adorned with statues of the evangelists, and at the base a richly-decorated dais in the Renaissance style; and the north doorway shows a balustrade, whose balusters form the inscription, 0 Mater Dei, memento mei. There is a fine window in the apse of St André, and St Hilaire contains some beautiful frescos. Of the old castle, whose site is partly occupied by the prefecture, there still remains the donjon—two large square towers, flanked by several of smaller dimensions. Built, it is said, by Henry II. of England or Richard Coeur de Lion, the south tower contains four vaulted chambers one above the other, and the platform on the top affords a fine view of the public garden (one of the most picturesque in France) and the valley of the Sèvre. The old town-house (now used as “justice de paix”) is known as the Aliénor or Éléonore palace, after Eléonore of Guienne; near it is a Renaissance belfry. The convent of the Oratorians is occupied by a public library (30,000 volumes), a picture gallery, and museums of geology and antiquities—the last containing plaster copies of all objects of interest in the ancient monuments of the surrounding country. Niort further possesses extensive barracks, several hospitals, and a lycée named after Fontanes, grandmaster of the imperial university, who was born in the town. The house is still shown in ...