ROCHEFORT AND THE LOWER CHARENTE,France,Antique Map

HISTORICAL MAP CHART

ROCHEFORT, a town of western France, capital of an arron-dissement in the department of Charente-Inferieure, 20 m. S.S.E. of La Rochelle on the State railway from Nantes to Bordeaux.It is situated on the right bank of the Charente, 9 m. from the Atlantic, and is built partly on the side of a rocky hill and partly on an old marshland. The town is laid out with great regularity, the streets being wide and straight and centring round the Place Colbert, in the middle of which is a monumental fountain of the iSth century. The public institutions of Rochefort comprise the sub-prefecture, tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a board of trade arbitration, a chamber of commerce, a lycee for boys, a college for girls and schools of drawing and architecture. The fortifications are slight. Below Rochefort the Charente is crossed by a pont transbordeur, the carrier of which is suspended at a height which admits of the tallest ships passing underneath at any time. There are both a naval and a commercial harbour. The former has the advantage of deep anchorage well protected by batteries at the mouth of the river, and the roadstead is perfectly safe. The windings of the channel, however, between Rochefort and the sea, and the bar at the entrance render navigation dangerous, Rochefort is capital of the fourth maritime arrondissement, which stretches from the bay of Bourgneuf to the coast of Spain. The naval harbour and arsenal, separated from the town by a line of fortifications with three gates, contain large covered building yards, repairing docks and extensive timber basins on both banks of the river. The arsenal has also a ropewalk dating from 1668, a school of navigation and pilotage, the offices of the maritime prefecture, the navy commissariat, a park of artillery and various boards of direction connected with the navy. Other government establishments at Rochefort are barracks for infantry, artillery and marines, and the naval hospital and school of medicine. In the grounds of this last institution is an artesian well, sunk in 1862-1866 to a depth of 2800 ft., and yielding water with a temperature of 100 F. The commercial harbour, higher up the river than the naval harbour, has two small basins, a third basin with an area of 15 acres and a depth at neap-tide of 25 ft., at spring-tide of 295 ft., and a dry dock no yds. long. Besides shipbuilding, which forms the staple industry, flour- and saw-milling, sailcloth, &c., are among the local manufactures.

1890s Wood Engraving, Antique Map

Approximate Overall Size: 7 X 10 1/2 inches

CONDITION: Book Plate INTEXT MAP - Excellent Condition. Beautiful with excellent detail. There is Text on Front and Back Side.