1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Parthenay

PARTHENAY, a town of western France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Deux-Sèvres, 27 m. N.N.E. of Niort, on the railway between that town and Saumur. Pop. (1906), 5615. The town retains considerable portions of its fine 13th-century ramparts, including the Porte St Jacques, a fortified gateway guarding an old bridge over the Thouet. Amongst ancient buildings of interest are the church of Ste Croix, of the 12th century, restored in 1885, with a 15th-century belfry; the church of St Laurent, also restored in modern times, portions of whose walls date from the 11th century; the ruined Romanesque portal of Notre-Dame de la Couldre; and 1 m. south-west of the town the ancient church (12th century) of Parthenay-le-Vieux. The manufacture of woollen goods and wool-spinning are the principal local industries.