Petherton

Petherton, South, a Somerset town, on the Parret, 4 1/2 miles N. of Crewkerne. Pop. 2250.

Petra

Petra (the Greek equivalent of the Heb. Sela, 'Rock'), the ancient stronghold of the Naba-tAeans was situated in the 'desert of Edom' in northern Arabia, near the points of intersection of great caravan-routes from Palmyra, Gaza, Egypt, and the Persian Gulf, four days' journey from the Mediterranean and five from the Red Sea. From it Arabia PetrAea got its name.

Petropavlovsk

Petropavlovsk', (1) a town of Asiatic Russia, on the river Ishim, 175 miles WNW. of Omsk. Pop. 25,000. - (2) A small port on the east coast of Kamchatka, with an admirable harbour.

Petropolis

Petropolis, a town of Brazil, 25 miles N. of Rio. It was originally a colony of Germans (1845), and superseded Nictheroy as capital of the state of Rio de Janeiro in 1894. Pop. 12,000, mainly Germans.

Petrovsk

Petrovsk', a town of Russia, 65 miles NW. of Saratov, on a tributary of the Don. Pop. 13,316.

Petrozavodsk

Petrozavodsk', a town of Russia, on the west shore of Lake Onega, 300 miles NE. of St Petersburg, has a cannon-foundry and small-arms factory. Pop. 13,027.

Pettigoe

Pettigoe, a village of Donegal and Fermanagh, 23 1/2 miles NW. of Enniskillen.

Petworth

Petworth, a market-town of Sussex, on an eminence near the West Rother River, 14 miles NNE. of Chichester. Petworth House, the seat of Lord Leconfield, is an 18th-century mansion, with a fine park and many portraits and other relics of the Percies and Wyndhams. Pop. of parish, 2967. See F. H. Arnold's Petworth (1864).

Pevensey

Pev'ensey, a village of Sussex, on the English Channel, 12 miles by rail W. by S. of Hastings. The Romans built here a castle, whose walls enclose a Norman keep. The church is Early English. William the Conqueror landed on the shore of Pevensey Bay. Pop. of parish, 467. See Lower's Chronicles of Pevensey (3d ed. 1880).

Peveril Castle

Peveril Castle. See Peak.

Pewsey

Pewsey, a small market-town of Wiltshire, in a fertile vale, 18 miles E. of Devizes and 7 SSW. of Marlborough. Pop. of parish, 1781.

Pezenas

Pezenas (Payz-na'), a town of France (dep. Herault), on the left bank of the river Herault, 32 miles by rail SW. of Montpellier. The vicinity produces excellent wine and brandy, and makes woollen and linen goods. Here Moliere wrote Les Precietises Ridicules. Pop. 6991.

Pfafers

Pfafers (P'fay'fers), hot springs in the Swiss canton of St Gall, in the deep and gloomy gorge of the Tamina torrent, which joins the Rhine at Ragatz, 2 1/2 miles to the north.

Pfalz

Pfalz, German for the Palatinate (q.v.).

Pfalzburg

Pfalzburg. See Phalsbourg.

Pforzheim

Pforzheim (P'fortz'hime), the chief manufacturing town of Baden, at the northern border of the Black Forest, 20 miles SE. of Carlsruhe by rail. It contains the remains of an ancient castle, from 1300 to 1565 the residence of the Margraves of Baden-Durlach, and was the birthplace of Reuch-lin. The town is famous for the manufacture of gold and silver ornaments, in which 8000 people are employed, and has further chemical and iron works, machine-shops, tanneries, paper-mills, etc. Pop. (1871) 19,801; (1900) 43,351.