Lausanne

Lausanne (Lazann'), capital of the Swiss canton of Vaud, on the S. slope of the Jura Mountains, close to the N. shore of the Lake of Geneva, the village of Ouchy (where Byron wrote The Prisoner of Chillon) forming its harbour. It is bisected by a valley, across which a fine bridge (617 feet long and 82 high.) was thrown in 1844. Lausanne is famous for its educational institutions; amongst them are the new cantonal university (1891), and industrial, music, and other schools. The cathedral is a beautiful Gothic building of the 10th and 13th centuries. Here, too, are the cantonal museum of natural history and antiquities, the Arlaud Museum (1846) of Art, a statue of Tell, etc. Since 1875 Lausanne has been the seat of the Federal Tribunal. Benjamin Constant was a native; and here Gibbon wrote most of the Decline and Fall. John Kemble, the actor, died and was buried here. Pop. nearly 50,000, of whom 86 per cent. are Reformed, and 78 per cent. speak French.

Lausitz

Lausitz. See Lusatia.

Lauterbrunnen

Lauterbrunnen (Lowterbroon'nen), an Alpine valley in the Swiss canton of Bern, through which flows the Weisse Lutschine, a principal feeder of the Aar. It is surrounded by perpendicular walls of sandstone 1000 to 1600 feet high, down which pour a score of waterfalls. Of these the Staubbach (' dust-stream') is 866 feet high.

Laval

Laval, capital of the French dep. of Mayenne, picturesquely situated on the river Mayenne, 46 miles by rail E. of Rennes. Its chief buildings (both 12th century) are the cathedral and the old ducal castle (a prison now). Since the 13th century, when Flemish weavers settled here, the town has been a centre of linen-manufactures - linen, ticking, sacking, etc. Near it the Vendeans under Larochejaquelein defeated the Republicans in 1793. Pop. 27,110.

La Valetta

La Valetta. See Valetta.

Lavaur

Lavaur, a town in the French dep. of Tarn, on the Agout, 25 miles ENE. of Toulouse. A bishop's see from 1317 to 1801, it was the strongest fortress of the Albigenses, but in 1211 was taken by Simon de Montfort. Pop. 6293.

La Vendee

La Vendee. See Vendee.

Lavenham

Lavenham, a Suffolk town, 10 1/2 miles SSE. of Bury St Edmunds, with a noble flint-work church. Pop. of parish, 1908.

Lawfeldt

Lawfeldt, or Laveld, close to Maestricht in Belgium. Here the French defeated the combined Austrian, Dutch, and English forces, 2d July 1747.

Lawrenceburg

Lawrenceburg, a city of Indiana, on the Ohio, 22 miles below Cincinnati. Pop. 4384.

Laxey

Laxey, a coast-village in the Isle of Man, 7 1/2 miles NNE. of Douglas. Near it are lead-mines.

Laxford

Laxford (Norse, 'salmon fjord'), a stream and a sea-loch of NW. Sutherland, 5 1/4 and 3 3/4 miles long.

Laybach

Laybach. See Laibach.

Laycock

Laycock. See Lacock.

Lazareff

Lazareff, Port, a fine natural harbour, 40 to 60 feet deep, and 8 sq. m. in extent, in Broughton Bay on the east side of Corea. It is 390 miles from Vladivostok to the N. and 480 from Port Hamilton to the S., and is free from ice in winter.