NIORT

town, capital of Deux-Svres dpartement, Poitou-Charentes rgion, western France. The town lies on the slopes of two hills facing one another on the left bank of the Svre Niortaise River, above its silted estuary. It grew up in the shelter of a 12th13th-century castle erected by Henry II of England and his son Richard I the Lion-Heart. The two square towers of the castle keep dominate the river. Niort became one of the centres of Protestantism in western France and suffered severely after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. The 15th16th-century Church of Notre-Dame stands south of the castle, and the 16th-century former town hall is on the opposite hill. Niort is a major centre for the insurance industry and other commercial services. It is a market town for the agriculturally productive Poitevin Marshes and the neighbouring farmlands of the Poitou region. Besides its traditional production of chamois leather, the town specializes in the plywood industry and has electrical, chemical, and glove factories. Pop. (1990) 58,660.