﻿697 



MARANOK. 



MARDIlf. 



693 



are cotton, rica, tanned and raw hides, &a Sugar and coffee are 

 imported from Pernambuco, Bahia, and other ports of Brazil. The 

 province of Maranhao is noticed under Brazil (vol. ii. cols. 108, 109). 

 The name ia sometimes written Maranham. 

 MAKANON. [Amazon.vs.] 



MARANS. [CHABEXTE-lNFERlEDBE.] 



MARATEA. [Basilicata.] 



MA'RATHON, a amall plain in the north-east part of Attica 

 [Attica], about 5 miles in length and 2 miles in breadth, which is 

 chiefly memorable for the victory which the Athenians under MUtiades 

 gained over the Persians here B.C. 490. Marathon was the first place 

 in Attica that was occupied by Pisistratus and his partisans, after he 

 had been compelled to retire to Eretria in Euboea. (HeroJ., i. 62.) 

 The town of Marathon originally belonged to one of the four towns 

 which formed the Tetrapolis, which consisted of CEnoe, Marathon, 

 Probalinthus, and Tricorythus; but the name was afterwards applied 

 to the whole district. Marathon is about three miles from the sea, 

 and ia said by Plutarch to have derived its name from the hero 

 Marathos. It is mentioned in the ' Odyssey ' as a place of consider- 

 able importance (viii. 80) ; and it was near this place that the Athenians 

 are said to have defeated Hurystheus when they took up arms in 

 defence of the Heraclidae. It is 18 miles in a direct line from Athens 

 to the village of Marathon. 



The plain of Marathon was watered by a small stream, called Asopus 

 by Ptolemy, which forms marshes near the sea, in which, according to 

 Pauaanias (i. 32, § 6), a great m-any of the Persians perished. The 

 Athenians who fell in the battle were buried in the plain ; and also, 

 but apart from the Athenians, the Platseans, Bceotians, and slaves. 

 A large mound of earth still rises from the centre of the plain ; and 

 near the sea there are two others, much lower than the former. 



MARAZION, Cornwall, a market-town in the parish of St Hilary, 

 is situated on the coast of Mounts Bay, in 50° 7' N. lat., 5" 28' W. 

 long. ; distant 29 miles S.W. from Truro, and 280 miles W. by S. from 

 London. The population of the chapelry of Marazion in 1851 was 

 1379. The town is governed by a mayor and corporation. The 

 living is a perpetual curacy in the archdeaconry of Cornwall and 

 diocese of Exeter., 



The town of Marazion is built on the slope of a hill, which rises 

 towards the north and shelters it from cold winds. The mildness of 

 temperature thus induced renders the place inviting to invalids, 

 although this advantage ia to some extent counterbalanced by the 

 falling of a large quantity of rain. In the town are the parochial 

 chapel, a Tery ancient edifice, chapels for Wesleyan Methodists and 

 Baptists, and a school built in 1851 by Lady Mary Cole. A market 

 ia held on Saturday. A fair is held on Michaelmas-day. The chief 

 trade of the town consists in the importation of timber, coals, and 

 iron for the use of the neighbouring mines. A station of the Penzance 

 and Truro railway is at Marazion. 



Opposite the town of Marazion ia St. Michael's Mount, which is 

 connected with the main land by the sands and a narrow causeway 

 of pebbles when the tide is out, but is insulated when it is high 

 water. It is supposed that St. Michael's Mount was the Iktis of 

 Diodorus Siculus, the depdt for the tin refined and cast into ingots 

 by the Britons. Specimens of tin ore are said to be plentiful all over 

 the Mount, which Is principally composed of granite. Previous to 

 1044 a priury of Benedictine monks had been established on the 

 island. The Mount is said to have been regarded with religious 

 reverence as early as the 5th century. In the middle ages it wag 

 much resorted to as a place of pilgrimage, and Marazion became in 

 csooaequence a place of considerable trade. The Mount was regarded 

 also as a stronghold, and a castle was bnilt on it. In the war of 

 the Roses the castle was seized by the Earl of Oxford ; the Yorkists 

 besieged the place for several months, and at last took it by capitu- 

 lation. It was several times the subject of contest during the civil 

 wars. In 1726-27 Sir John St. Aubyn rebuilt the pier. On September 

 6th, 1846, Queen Victoria visited the Mount. 



'The island, containing the Mouut and a level piece of ground at 

 its foot, ia about a mile in circumference, and comprehends 70 acres 

 of surface. In 1851 the population was 147. The Mount ia about 

 200 feet in height from the level of the sea to the platform of the 

 chapel tower. The ascent is steep, and is defended by two small 

 batteries; the summit is occupied by the remains of the monastic 

 buildings, which have been repaired and converted into a dwelling- 

 house. 



MARBELLO. [Gbasada.] 



MARBLEHEAU. [MASSACHnsETTS.] 



MARBURO, the capital of the province of Upper Hesse, in the 

 electorate of Uesae-Cassel, is situated in 50° 60' N. lat, 8° 47' E. long., 

 60 miles N. by E. from Frankfurt-am-Mayn by the Frankfurt-Cossel 

 railway, and has about 8000 inhabitants. It is built on the banks 

 of the Lahn, which divides it from the suburb of Weidenhausen. 

 The town is situated on the side of a hill, and the streets are very 

 •tesp. On the top of an eminence overlooking the town there is a 

 larga castle, which was formerly well fortified and was the residence 

 of the landgraves of Hesse. The town is partly surrounded by a wall, 

 in which there are five gates. Marburg has a university, which was 

 foqoded in 1527 by the landgrave Philip the Generous. 'This univer- 

 iriiy has very considerable revenues, and all the luual appendages of 



the German universities, with a library of 100,000 volumes. The 

 university has faculties of Protestant theology, law, metlioine, and 

 philosophy, and 62 professors and teachers. The number of students 

 in 1850 was 263. Marburg; has also a gymnasium, with about 200 

 pupils ; one Calvinist, one Roman Catholic, and two Lutheran churches ; 

 one hospital, two infirmaries, an orphan asylum, a school of iudustry, 

 &c. The church of St Elizabeth contains the fine monument of St. 

 Elizabeth, which was however much damaged under the Westphalian 

 government. Marburg has some manufactures of woollen, linen, 

 cotton, hats, tobacco, and pipes. 



MARCA D'ANCO'NA, an old denomination of a geographical 

 division of the Papal States, whose limits correspond partly with 

 those of ancient Pioenum, and which is now subdivided into the 

 three administrative delegazioni, or provinces, of Aucoua, Fermo ed 

 Ascoli, and Macerata e Camerino. This fine region extends from the 

 frontiers of Abruzzo to the boundaries of the former duchy of Urbiuo, 

 now the province of Pesaro e Urbiuo, and from the Apennines to the 

 Adriatic, along which sea it occupies a line of coast more than 60 

 miles in length. It has been called La Marca, ' the March,' since 

 the time of the Carlovingian emperors and kings of Italy, from being 

 governed by marchiones, or marquises. March (' JIark,' iii German) 

 meant originally a frontier district, but the term was afterwards 

 applied rather capriciously, and the number of marquisates was 

 multiplied in various parts of the revived Western empire. In the 

 time of the Longobards the country, afterwards called Marca, 

 was called Pentapolis, from its five principal towns, Aucona, 

 Fanum, Pisaurum, Auximum (now Osimo), and Kumana. The 

 name of Marchia Anconse is found in a diploma of the emperor 

 Frederick I., of 1162. His son Henry VI. united it to the duchy of 

 Ravenna. Innocent III. conquered the Mai-ch, and placed it under 

 the allegiance of the Roman see. During the troubles of the middle 

 ages it was divided among several petty princes. Cesare Borgia 

 subdued the country, which was annexed to the papal territories. It 

 was then generally called Marca d'Ancona, from its principal town ; 

 but the south-east part of it was also sometimes called Marca di Fcrmo, 

 and the two together were often designated, in the plural number, 

 ' Le Marche,' or The Marches. [Ancona ; Febmo-edAscoli ; 

 Macerata.] 



MARCELLIN, ST. [Is6re.] 



MARCH, Isle of Ely, Cambridgeshire, a market- and post-town in 

 the parish of Doddington, is situated on the old river None, in 52° 33' 

 N. lat, 0° 5' E. long., distant 32 miles N. by W. from Cambridge, 

 79 miles N. by E. from London by road, and 87^ miles by the Eastern 

 Counties railway. The population of the town of March in 1851 

 was 4171. The living is a chapelry in the archdeaconry and diocese 

 of Ely. 



The town conslsta principally of two streets. The river Nene is 

 crossed by a bridge at the junction of the two streets. The church 

 stands at the southern extremity of the town ; it is a handsome sti-uc- 

 ture, erected in the middle of the 14th century. The Baptists and 

 Independents have places of worship, and there are National schools. 

 A county court is held in the town. 'There is a commodious town-hall. 

 The market is held on Friday ; and there are several fairs. Some trade 

 in agricultural produce is carried on by means of the river Nene. 



MARCHE, LA, one of the provinces or military governments into 

 which France was divided in pre-revolutionary times. It was bounded 

 N. by Berri, E. by Auvergne, S. by Limousin, and VV. by Poitou and 

 Angoumois. Its name, which denotes a frontier district, was derived 

 from its situation on the border of Limousin (of which province it 

 was formerly accounted a subdivision, being sometimes called La 

 Marche du Limousin) towards Poitou and Berri. It was subdivided 

 into La Haute Marche on the east side, of which Gueret was the 

 capital, and La Basse Marche on the west side, of which Bellac was 

 the chief town. La Haute Marche now constitutes the department 

 of Creuse; La Basse Marche is comprised in the arroudissementa 

 of Limoges and BeUac, in the department of Haute- Vienne. [Vienne- 

 Haute.] 



KiVRCHIENNES. [Nobd.] 



MARCILLAT. [Allieb.] 



MARDIN, a town of Northern Mesopotamia, built on a steep hill 

 on the southern slope of the Mardin Hills, the ancient Mount Masiun, 

 which divides the basin'of the Upper Tigris from that of the Euphrates. 

 Mardin is a considerable though poor town, and is said to contain 

 20,000 inhabitants, two-thirds of whom are Moslems, and the rest 

 Christians, with some Jews. The Christians are divided between 

 Syrians of the Greek Church, Nestorians, and Armenians. The Syrians, 

 who are the most numerous, have two churches in the town and two 

 convents in the neighbourhood. They read their church service in 

 the Syriac language, the vulgar tongue being the Arabic. 



The circuit of the town including the castle, which is built on the 

 summit of a limestone rook, which rises perpendicularly from the 

 platform of the hill, is about 2 miles. The houses rise one above 

 another on the eastern and southern sides of the hill ; the streets run 

 along the slopes forming successive terraces, the cross streets that 

 connect them being literally flights of steps. The houses are built of 

 stone, generally small, with flat roofs, on which in summer the inhabit- 

 ants commonly sup and sleep. Mardin has eight mosques, several 

 bazaars, and some public baths. The castle, which is strong by its 



