OIRON  , a

village of western France, in the department of Deux-Sevres, 7z M . E. by S. of Thouars by road . Oiron is celebrated for its chateau, standing in a park and originally built in the first half of the 16th century by the Gouffier family, rebuilt in .the latter half of the 17th century by Francis of Aubusson, duke of La Feuillade, and purchased by Madame de Montespan, who there passed the latter part of her life . Marshal Villeroy afterwards lived there . The chateau consists of a main building with two long projecting wings, one of which is a graceful structure of the Renaissance period built over a cloister . The adjoining church, begun in 1518, combines the Gothic and Renaissance styles and contains the tombs of four members of the Gouffier family . These together with other parts of the chateau and church were mutilated by the Protestants in 1568 . The park contains a group of four dolmens . For the Oiron pottery see CERAMICS .