Soleure

Soleure (Latin Salodurum; German Solothurn), a canton of Switzerland and its capital. The former has an irregular area of 306 square miles, being almost entirely enclosed within Berne. It is exceedingly fertile, containing rich pastures, mines of iron and coal, valuable forests, and factories for glass, etc, The town boasts to be the oldest in Gaul after Treves, and held the rank of an imperial city. It is picturesquely situated on the Aar about 25 miles S. of Basle, and has, among other interesting institutions, the finest armoury in Switzerland and a handsome modern church. The population is almost entirely Catholic, and the constitution of the canton, which has gone through remarkable changes, is now an ultramontane democracy.