COULOMMIERS  , a

town of northern France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Seine-et-Marne, 45 M . E. of Paris by rail . Pop . (1906) 5217 . It is situated in the fertile district of Brie, in a valley watered by the Grand-Morin . The church of St Denis (13th and 16th centuries), and the ruins of a castle built by Catherine of Gonzaga, duchess of I.ongueville, in the early 17th century, are of little importance . There is a statue to Commandant Beaurepaire, who, in 1792, killed him-self rather than surrender Verdun to the Prussians . Coulommiers is the seat of a subprefect, and has a tribunal of first instance and a communal college . Printing is the chief industry, tanning, flour-milling and sugar-making being also carried on . Trade is in agricultural products, and especially in cheeses named after the town .