Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Angers

ANGERS, an ancient city of France, capital of the department of Maine-et-Loire, and formerly of the old province of Anjou, situated on the Maine, about 4 miles from its junction with the Loire, and 161 miles S.W. of Paris. The streets of the upper and older quarter of the city, which occupies the slope of a rising ground on the left bank of the river, are narrow and often very steep, and the houses have a sombre, although somewhat picturesque appearance, from the quantity of slate that is used in their construction. Many of these buildings, however, have given place to others of a more modern style, particularly near the site of the old ramparts, now occupied by beautiful boulevards, while on the opposite side of the river a new quarter has sprung up, which is regularly and tastefully built. Among the principal buildings in Angers are the castle, situated on a rock commanding the city, once a place of great strength, but now used as a prison, barrack, and powder magazine; the fine cathedral of St Maurice, rebuilt in 1225, and remarkable for its beautiful stained glass windows; the Hôtel Dieu, built by Henry II. of England; and several of the parish churches. Angers is the seat of a bishop, and possesses schools of different grades, various learned societies, a library of about 40,000 volumes, and a gallery containing a good collection of pictures and statues, including some fine works by the sculptor David of Angers. There was once a university in the town, as well as a military college, at which the Earl of Chatham and the Duke of Wellington received part of their education; but the former has been abolished, while the latter has been removed to Saumur. The chief manufactures at Angers are sail-cloths, ropes, linen goods, hosiery, sugar, leather, wax, and oil; there is also a considerable trade in corn, wine, and fruits, and in the neighbourhood there are extensive slate quarries, which give employment to about 3000 workmen. Population, 58,464. Angers is the ancient Juliomagus, or, as it was latterly called, Andecavia, whence the city is said to derive its present name. It was captured by Odoacer in 464 A.D., and by Clovis in 486; it suffered severely from the invasions of the Northmen in 845 and the succeeding years, and of the English in the 12th and 15th centuries; the Huguenots took it in 1585, and the Vendean royalists were repulsed near it in 1793.