ROCHEFORT-SUR-UOIRE 



6654 



returned to France and founded 

 L'Intransigeant, supported Bou- 

 langer, and worked for some years 

 in London. Returning in 1895, he 

 attacked the Panama scandals and 

 the pro-Dreyfus movement. Roche- 

 fort, who was unrivalled in his 

 powers of bitter invective, died at 

 Aix-les- Bains, June 30, 1913. 



Rochefort-sur-Loire. Village 

 of France, in the dept. of Maine-et- 

 Loire. It stands on the Loiret, 

 not far from the Loire, and is 

 noted for its white wines. There are 

 the ruins of a chateau destroyed in 

 1214 by royal command, and later 

 rebuilt. It was bought by Henry 

 I V. who dismantled it. 



Rochefort-sur-Mer. Seaport 

 of France, in the dept. of Charente- 

 Inferieure. It stands on the right 

 bank of the Charente, 9 m. from 

 the Atlantic and 18 m. S.E. of La 

 Rochelle. The modern and well- 

 built town contains the Place 

 Colbert, with an 18th century 

 fountain, and the church of S. 

 Louis, built 1835, noted for its 

 stained glass. The marine hospital 

 is one of the best equipped in 

 Europe. There are iron and copper 

 foundries and machinery works, * 

 and a trade is carried on in grain, 

 salt, brandy, wines, cattle, dairy 

 produce, etc. The port of Roche- 

 fort was finished towards 1666, and 

 here in 1815 Napoleon I embarked 



La Rochelle, France. 1. Harbour and quays, from tbe 



tower o! S. Sauveur. 2. Porte de la Grosse Horloge, the 



sole remaining city gate, 14-15th century. 3. Western 



facade of the cathedral of S. Louis 



for England. Pierre Loti (q.v.) was 

 a native. Pop. 35,000. 



Rochelle, LA. Town and sea- 

 port of France, capital of the dept. 

 of Charente-Inferieure. It lies in 



the bay enclosed 



by the islands of 



Re and Oleron, 



296 m. by rly. 



S.W. of Paris, 



and has a fine 



harbour. The 



new harbour of 



La Pallice, 3 



m. W. of La 



begun in 1890, 



La Rochelle arms 

 Rochelle, was 

 and is now one 



of the best 



on the W. coast 

 of France. There 

 is trade in cereals, 

 coal, wines, salt, 

 colonial produce, 

 sardines, etc., and 

 shipbuilding and 

 allied industries 

 are important. 

 Pop. 36,371. 



The towers of S. 

 Nicolas, 1384, La 

 Chaine, 1375, and 

 La Lantern e, 

 1445, are land- 

 marks of the old 

 port. The remarkable hotel de 

 ville, with fortified walls of the late 

 15th century, dates mainly from 

 1595-1607, with fine Renaissance 

 fa9ades in the courtyard. The 

 cathedral of S. Louis, 1742-62, 

 stands on the site of the old church 

 of S. Bartholomew, the tower of 

 which survives. The former epis- 

 copal palace is now a museum, and 

 the town has many interesting 

 Renaissance houses. 



La Rochelle became prominent 

 as a port in the late 12th century, 

 and was made a commune in 1199. 

 It fell to the siege of Louis VIII, 

 1224, passed to England by the 



treaty of Bretigny, 1360, but re- 

 turned to France in 1372, after a 

 rising of townsfolk. In the 16th 

 century it became a Huguenot 

 stronghold, resisted the siege of 

 the duke of Anjou, 1573, but was 

 again besieged by Richelieu in 

 1627. Richelieu blockaded the 

 town by land and sea, constructing 

 a great dyke to block the port ; 

 about 12,000 persons are believed 

 to have perished from privation 

 before the town surrendered, Oct. 

 28, 1628. A further blow was 

 the emigration of over 5,000 citi- 

 zens after the revocation of the 

 edict of Nantes, 1685. 



Rochers de Naye. Mt. peak of 

 Switzerland, in the Bernese Ober- 

 land. The summit, 6,710 ft., 

 reached by rack rly. from Mon- 

 treux, commands a splendid view 

 over the lake of Geneva. 



Roches Moutonnees (Fr., 

 sheep-shaped rocks) OR SHEEP- 

 BACKS. Name given to humps of 

 rock subjected to the characteristic 

 rounding and smoothing action of 

 glaciers or ice-sheets. They arc 

 common in Switzerland and in 

 glaciated parts of the British Isles. 

 Pron. Rosh mootonnay. 



Rochester. City of Kent, Eng- 

 land. It stands on the Medway, 

 8 m. from Maidstone and 33 m. 

 from London, 

 being served by 

 the S.E. & C. 

 Rly. The chief 

 building is the 

 cathedral. Re- 

 placing an older 

 building, this 

 was erected in 

 the llth and Rochester arms 

 12th centuries, but later many 

 additions and alterations were 

 made, the result being almost a new 

 church in a variety of styles. The 

 chief features are the Norman west 

 front, the crypt, the nave, and the 

 tower and spire, a 20th century 

 work. The treasures include cath- 

 edral records, tombs, and the choir 



