Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/Avesnes

AVESNES, a town of France, in the department of Nord, situated in a fertile district on the Greater Helpe. It is generally well built, and is fortified on Vauban s system. Its principal building is the cathedral, surmounted by a tower 330 feet high, which is raised on four columns, and has a fine chime. It is the seat of a sub-prefect, and has a tribunal of primary jurisdiction, an agricultural society, and a communal college. The principal manu factures are hosiery, coarse serge, and soap ; there are also breweries, tanneries, salt-refineries, and brick and marble works. A great part of the town was destroyed by the explosion of a powder-magazine during the siege by the Prussians in July 1815, but was soon afterwards rebuilt. Population, 3737.