TOURNON  , a

town of south-western France, capital of an arrondissement in the department of Ardeche, on the right bank of the Rhone, 58 m . S. of Lyons by rail . Pop . (1906), town, 3642; commune, 5003 . Tournon preserves a gateway of the 15th century and other remains of fortifications and an old castle used as town hall, court-house and prison and containing a Gothic chapel . The church of St Julian dates chiefly from the 14th century . The lycee occupies an old college founded in the 16th century by Cardinal Francois de Tournon . Of the two suspension bridges which unite the town with Tain on the left bank of the river, one was built in 1825 and is the oldest in France . A statue to General Rampon (d . 1843) stands in the Place Carnot . Wood-sawing, silk-spinning, and the manufacture of chemical manures, silk goods and hosiery are carried on in the town, which has trade in the wine of the Rhone hills . Tournon had its own counts as early as the reign of Louis I .

In the

middle of the 17th century the title passed from them to the dukes of Ventadour .