1133 



GATINAIS, LE. 



GENEVA. 



im 



during winter ; the other, of recent construction, is of gradual descent. 

 The town is lighted with gas, and partially paved. The parish 

 church is an ancient and spacious cruciform edifice, surmounted with 

 a lofty tower. Besides the parish church are St. Edmund's chapel ; 

 St. Cuthbert's church, erected in 1848 ; and St. John's church, 

 Gateshead Fell, erected in 1825. The Independents, Presbyterians, 

 AVesleyan and New Connexion Methodists, and Roman Catholics hare 

 places of worship. The Grammar school, founded in 1700, has an 

 income from endowment of \1l. a year, and in 1851 had 40 scholars, 

 of whom 12 were free. There are also National, British, and Infant 

 schools. St. Edmund's Hospital provides for a master, 3 elder 

 brethren, and 12 younger brethren. There are a mechanics institute, 

 a dispensary, and an almshouse. A county court is held here. 

 Markets are held on Tuesday and Saturday ; and fairs on the 2nd 

 Monday in April and the 1st Monday in November. Extensive coal- 

 mines, iron-foundries, chain-cable manufactories, glass-works, brick 

 and tile-works, soap-works, ship-building, rope-making, and chemical 

 and other works are carried on. There is a manufactory for patent 

 iron-wire rope, and at Gateshead Fell is a quarry for grindstones, 

 which are exported to all parts of the world. 

 (Communication from Gatfshead.) 



GATINAIS, LE, a district in France, partly comprehended in the 

 province of Ile-de-France, partly in that of Orle'anais, and distinguished 

 ta Gatinais Francais and Gatinais Orle'anais, of which Melun and 

 Montargis were the respective capitals. It extended from the Seine 

 to thf Loire, and was drained also by the Loing and the Essonne. 

 lit] towns of Gatinais Franjais were Nemours, Fontainebleau, 

 and J'loret; of Gatinais Orle'anais, Chatillon, Briare, Gien, and St.- 

 Fargeau. The county so-named consists of fertile plains, and is 

 famous for its corn products, wine, fruits, pastures, and forests. 

 It is now included in the departments of SEINE-ET-MARNE and 

 LOIRET. 



GATINE, a district of Poitou, of which Parthenay was the 

 capital, is now comprehended in the department of Deux Sevres. 

 [SEVRES, DEUX,] 



GATSHINA. [PETERSBURG, Government of.] 

 GAUL. [FRANCE.] 

 GAULNA. [CANDEISH.] 



GAZA, now called Gazara, a town of Syria, or more properly speak- 

 ing, of Palestine, on the south-west frontiers of that country, near 

 the borders of the desert which separates it from Egypt. It consists 

 of the upper town, with a castle situated on a hill, about 2 miles 

 from the sea, and a lower part, or suburb, in the valley below. The 

 population, including that of two suburban villages, is about 10,000. 

 It has some manufactories of soap and cotton stuffs, and carries on 

 some trade by sea, especially with Egypt, and also by land through 

 the desert with Suez. Gaza is greatly fallen from its ancient splen- 

 dour ; but it still exhibits signs of commercial activity and prosperity. 

 It is repeatedly mentioned in Holy Writ, especially in Judges (xvi.), 

 as one of the principal towns of the Philistines. It was besieged by 

 Alexander the Great, and taken after an obstinate defence. At a later 

 period it was destroyed by the Jews in one of their revolts against 

 the Romans : in the Acts of the Apostles (viii. 26), it is mentioned as 

 being then deserted. It became at an early period the seat of a 

 bishop. In the middle ages it was an important frontier town. The 

 hill upon which Gaza stands is elevated about 60 feet above the neigh- 

 bouring plain, and is about 2 miles in circumference at the base. It 

 appears to have been once wholly inclosed by walls : the sites of 

 several of the former gates are still pointed out. The greater part of 

 the modern city is situated on the plain below. The town being 

 surrounded by gardens and plantations of olive and date trees, above 

 which numerous and elegant minarets rise, has a pleasing appearance 

 from a distance. The country around, which is hilly, is remarkably 

 fertile. The port of Gaza, called Majuuia Gazae, had special privileges 

 conferred upon it by the emperor Constantino, who gave it the name 

 of Constantia, and exempted it from subjection to Gaza. This was 

 done in consequence of the inhabitants professing the Christian faith. 

 Under Julian the people of Gaza reasserted their claim to supremacy 

 over the port ; the claim was admitted by the emperor, and the new 

 name of the port was dropped. (Robinson ; Le Quien ; Dictionary 

 of Greets and Roman Geography.) 

 GEERTRUYDENBERG. [BRABANT, NORTH.] 

 GELA, a Grecian colony on the south-western coast of Sicily, was 

 founded by a joint colony from Crete and from Lindas, a city in 



Rhodes, in B.C. 690, or about 44 years after the foundation of Syra- 

 cuse. (Herod., vii. 153; Thuc., vi. 4.) It was situated at the mouth 

 of the river Gela. The colony established here was one of the most 

 powerful of the Grecian colonies in Sicily. About B.C. 582 the after- 

 wards powerful city of AGRIGENTUM was founded by a colony of 

 Geloans. Gela itself maintained an influential position till the time 

 of Gelon, who removed the greater part of its inhabitants to Syra- 

 cuse ; after which it rapidly sunk in importance. It was destroyed 



British Muscnm. 



Coin of Gela. 

 Actual Size. Silver. 



Weight, 2C5 grains. 



Coin of Gela. 

 British Museum. Actual Size. Silver. Weight, 269J grains. 



in B.C. 405, in the great Carthaginian invasion, and although after- 

 wards repeopled, never recovered its former prosperity. The modern 

 town of Terra Nova is supposed to have been built upon its site. 

 The district in which Gela was situated was a very fertile corn-grow- 

 ing tract. It was renowned for the excellence of its lentils. The 

 territory also produced abundance of salt. The Minotaur on the coin 

 of Gela, above, is symbolical of the origin of the city. (Dictionary 

 of Greek and Roman Geography.) 



GENAPPE. [BRABANT, SOUTH.] 



GENESSEE. [NEW YORK.] 



GENE'VA (Geneve, Genf, Ginevra), a town and canton in the 

 south-west of Switzerland. The canton is bounded N. by the canton 

 of Vaud and the Lake of Geneva, E. and S. by Savoy, and W. by 

 France. It consists of the territory of the old republic of Geneva, 

 of the district of Versoix ceded by France, and of the districts of 

 Carouge, Hermance, and others, ceded by the king of Sardinia by the 

 treaties of Paris, 1814, and of Turin, 1816. The area of the canton 

 is only 91 square miles. The population of the canton in March 

 1850, amounted to 63,976, of whom 34,212 were Calviuists and 29,764 

 Catholics, who are under the archbishop of Freyburg. This number 

 includes the population of the city of Geneva, and foreigners who to 

 the number of 14,928 reside in the canton. The greatest length of the 

 canton is about 17 miles, from Hermance, on the extreme north-east 

 frontier, to Chancy, a commune on the left bank of the Rhone, south- 

 west of Geneva, near the Fort de 1'Ecluse, which is a French military 

 outpost on that side. 



The territory of Geneva extends along both banks of the Lake of 

 Geneva and the valley of the Rhfine, being confined on the west by 

 the lower offsets of the Jura, and on the east and south-east by the 

 mountains of Voirons and Saleve, which are about 4000 feet above 

 the sea. These mountains however are out of the territory of Geneva, 

 which contains only some hills, the highest of which are not 400 feet 

 above the level of the lake. The territory of the canton is divided 

 into three districts : 1, The district north of the Rhone, including a 

 strip of land along the west bank of the lake as far as the borders of 

 the canton of Vaud, beyond Versoix. 2, the district south of the 

 Rhone, and between it and the left bank of the Arve, which includes 

 Carouge, a neat well-built town, with 4400 inhabitants, about one mile 

 south of Geneva. 3, the district north of the Arve, and between it 

 and the east bank of the lake, along which it extends in a narrow 

 strip as far as Hermance. The principal place of this last district is 

 Chesne, consisting of two large villages adjoining each other, which 

 reckon together about 2000 inhabitants. Numerous other villages 

 are scattered about the whole territory ; and the immediate neigh- 

 bourhood of Geneva, both along the banks of the lake aud in 

 the direction of the principal avenues leading to the town, exhibits 

 extensive lines and groups of country-houses, which form handsome 

 suburbs. 



About one-third of the territory of Geneva is sown with corn, 

 another third is pasture-land, a much smaller proportion is planted 

 with vines, which yield an indifferent sort of wine ; the rest consists 

 of woods, orchards, and gardens. The deficiency in corn, cattle, and 

 wine, for the consumption of the town of Geneva, is supplied by the 

 neighbouring countries. Manufactures and commercial speculations 

 form the principal sources of wealth. Watches and jewellery are the 

 principal manufactures : about 100,000 watches are made annually 

 and exported to France, England, Italy, and other countries. Other 

 industrial products are musical-boxes, chronometers, mathematical 

 instruments, cutlery, fire-arms, &c. There is an active transit trade 

 carried on by steamers between Geneva and the several towns on the 

 shores of the lake. 



Geneva is one of tlia oldest sites in Western Europe. It is mentioned 

 by Julius Caesar (' Bell. Gal.,' i. 7). The republic of Geneva originated 

 in the municipal government of the town, to which Charlemagne 

 granted certain privileges and franchises, subordinate however to the 

 bishop, who was styled Prince of Geneva, and was an immediate 

 feudatory of the empire. Frequent dissensions occurred between the 



