HENNEBONT

hennebont, a town of western france, in the department of morbihan, 6 m. n.e. of lorient by road. pop. (1906) 7250. it is situated about 10 m. from the mouth of the blavet, which divides it into two parts--the _ville close_, the medieval military town, and the _ville neuve_ on the left bank and the _vieille ville_ on the right bank. the ville close, surrounded by ramparts and entered by a massive gateway flanked by machicolated towers, consists of narrow quiet streets bordered by houses of the 16th and 17th centuries. the ville neuve, which lies nearer the river, developed during the 17th century and later than the ville close, while the vieille ville is older than either. the only building of architectural importance is the church of notre-dame de paradis (16th century) preceded by a tower with an ornamented stone spire. there are scanty remains of the old fortress. hennebont has a small but busy river-port accessible to vessels of 200 to 300 tons. an important foundry in the environs of the town employs 1400 work-people in the manufacture of tin-plate for sardine boxes and other purposes. boat-building, tanning, distilling and the manufacture of earthenware, white lead and chemical manures are also carried on. granite is worked in the neighbourhood. hennebont is famed for the resistance which it made, under the widow of jean de montfort, when besieged in 1342 by the armies of philip of valois and charles of blois during the war of the succession in brittany (see brittany).