a town of east-central France, in the department of Saone-et-Loire, on the right bank of the Loire, 55 m. W.N.W. of Macon on the Paris-Lyon railway. Pop. (1906) 5321. It is situated at the meeting places of the Loire, the Lateral canal of the Loire and the Canal du Centre, which here crosses the Loire by a fine aqueduct. The town carries on considerable manufactures of faience, pottery and porcelain. The port on the Canal du Centre has considerable traffic in timber, sand, iron, coal and stone.