Lamballe

Lamballe, a town of north-western France, in the department of Côtes-du-Nord, on the Gouessant 13 m. E.S.E. of St Brieuc by rail. Pop. (1906) 4347. Crowning the eminence on which the town is built is a beautiful Gothic church (13th and 14th centuries), once the chapel of the castle of the counts of Penthièvre. La Noue, the famous Huguenot leader, was mortally wounded in 1591 in the siege of the castle, which was dismantled in 1626 by Richelieu. Of the other buildings, the church of St Martin (11th, 15th and 16th centuries) is the chief. Lamballe has an important haras (depot for stallions) and carries on trade in grain, tanning and leather-dressing; earthenware is manufactured in the environs. Lamballe was the capital of the territory of the counts of Penthièvre, who in 1569 were made dukes.