Vienne

River in France, rising in northern Corrèze département; length 350 km/217 mi. It flows north past Châtellerault, Limoges, and Chinon, to join the Loire 13 km/8 mi southeast of Saumur. The river is navigable from Châtellerault.

Vienne

French town in the département of Isère on the River Rhône, 26 km/16 mi south of Lyons; population (1990) 29,400. Vienne has woollen and metal manufacturing industries; tourism is important. The town's history goes back more than 2,000 years and there are Roman remains.

Once the capital of the Allobroges, Vienne became a Roman colony under Caesar about 47 BC. Remaining Roman buildings include the 1st-century temple of Augustus and Livia. During the 5th and 6th centuries, and again at the end of the 9th and the beginning of the 10th centuries, Vienne was the home of the Burgundian kings. The church of St Maurice (11th–16th centuries) was once their cathedral.

Vienne

Département in the Poitou-Charentes region of France; area 6,984 sq km/2,697 sq mi; population (1999 est) 399,000. Vienne is flat and low-lying. The River Vienne and its tributary the Clain run through it. Cereals, fruit, and some hemp are grown in the fertile soil, and stock is raised. Vienne contains numerous megalithic monuments, or standing stones. The administrative centre is Poitiers. Other towns include Châtellerault, and Montmorillon.

Vienne was formed in 1790 out of parts of the former provinces of Poitou, Touraine, and Berry.