Briancon

Briancon, a French town of the Hautes Alpes head of arrondissement and canton, 162 miles N.E. of Marseille, on the right bank of the Durance. It has an arsenal, and is the military depot for the French Alps. Its chief industries are weaving, tanning, hat-making, knitting, and the working of a talc which goes by the name of Craie de Briancon (Briancon chalk). The neighbourhood also produces medicinal and dyeing plants. The Guisanne and the Clairee unite to make the Durance, and there is a single-arch bridge of a considerable height above sea level. The town is situated on a very steep slope, and it has fine fountains and a pretty church.