The New International Encyclopædia/Fontenay-le-Comte

FONTENAY-LE-COMTE, fôNt′nā̇′le-kôNt′. The capital of an arrondissement in the Department of Vendée, France, situated on both banks of the Vendée, 27 miles northeast of La Rochelle (Map: France, E 5). It is an old-fashioned town, with the two fine Gothic churches of Notre Dame and Saint Jean, and in the public square a fountain in Renaissance style, from which the town derives its name; there are also a college and a handsome theatre. There are linen and cloth and saw mills, and three important annual fairs are held. Population, in 1901, 10,512. The town suffered considerably during the religious wars, and was captured by the Royalists in 1793.