Laon
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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"Laon, a fortress of the third class, with 14,629 inhab., is the capital of the department of the Aisne, and from before 500 till 1789 was the seat of a bishop, second in rank to the Archbishop of Rheims alone. The town is built in the midst of an extensive plain, on a long, isolated hill running E. and W., and curving towards the S. at the W. end so as to form the curious valley mentioned at p. 110."--Northern France, from Belgium and the English channel to the Loire, excluding Paris and its environs : handbook for travellers (1889) by Baedeker |
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Laon is a city In the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France.
Sights
The city contains numerous medieval buildings, including the cathedral Notre-Dame of Laon, dating mostly from the 12th and 13th centuries. The chapter-house and the cloister contain specimens of early 13th century architecture. The old episcopal palace, contiguous to the cathedral, is now used as a court-house. The front, flanked by turrets, is pierced by large pointed windows. There is also a Gothic cloister and an old chapel of two storeys, of a date anterior to the cathedral.
The church of St Martin dates from the middle of the 12th century. The old abbey buildings of the same foundation are now used as the hospital. The museum of Laon had collections of sculpture and painting. In its garden there is a chapel of the Templars belonging to the 12th century.
One of the oldest churches in the city is St John the Baptist, in the nearby neighborhood of Vaux-sous-Laon, which dates from the 11th through 13th centuries and is built in a mixture of Romanesque and Gothic styles.
