Perigee
the point in the moon's orbit at which she is nearest the earth.
PÉRIGORD, an old province of military France. It formed part of the mi government of Guienne and Gascony, and is now represented by Dordogne and part of Lot-et-Garonne.
PÉRIGUEUX, a town of France, formerly capital of Périgord, now in the department of Dordogne; on the right bank of the Isle, a tributary of the Dordogne; 95 miles N. E. of Bordeaux. It consists of the ancient city, which is gloomy in aspect and has narrow streets, with numerous houses and other remains of mediæval and Renaissance architecture, and the Puy St. Front, which till 1269 was a separate and a rival town.
The cathedral of St. Front is a Byzantine edifice, said to be a copy of St. edifice, said to be a copy of Mark's at Venice, built in 984-1047, but spoilt by "restoration" in 1865. The museum is especially rich in Roman and Fénelon, and the soldiers Daumesnil and other antiquities. Statues of Montagne, Bugeaud adorn public places in the town.
Iron is mined and worked, and woolens are manufactured. The celebrated pâtés de Périgueux, made of partridges and truffles, are largely exported. Périgeux, a town of the highest antiquity, is the Gallic Vesunna mentioned by Cæsar.
The Romans built another town on the opposite side of the river at the junction of five Roman roads. Close to the modern town are the remains of a vast amphitheater, aqueducts, baths, and temples. The tower of Vesunna is the most remarkable fragment of Roman architecture. It is 89 feet high, 200 feet in circumference, and has walls 6 feet thick, but has neither doors nor windows. Its purpose is not known. The district of Périgord is noted for its archæological finds. Pop. (1911) 33,548.