Cholet

Cholet (probably from Latin cauletum, "cabbage")is a town in western France, capital of an arrondissement in the Maine-et-Loire département, Pays de la Loire région, 41 miles south-east of Nantes. Population (1999): 54,204. In 1906, the population was 16,554.

Related Topics:
Latin - France - Arrondissement - Maine-et-Loire - Département - Pays de la Loire - Région - Nantes

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Cholet stands on an eminence on the right bank of the Moine, which used to be crossed by a bridge of the 15th century. A public garden occupies the site of the old castle; the public buildings and churches, for example the Church of the Sacred Heart (1939), are modern. The public institutions include the sub-prefecture, a tribunal of first instance, a chamber of commerce, a board of trade-arbitrators, and a communal college.

Related Topics:
Moine - 15th century

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There are granite quarries in the vicinity of the town. The chief industry is the manufacture of linen and linen handkerchiefs, which is also carried on. in the neighboring communes on a large scale. Woollen and cotton fabrics are also produced, and bleaching and the manufacture of preserved foods are carried on. Cholet is the most important centre in France for the sale of fat cattle, sheep and pigs, for which Paris is the chief market.

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Megalithic monuments are numerous in the neighborhood. The town owes the rise of its prosperity to the settlement of weavers there by Edouard Colbert, count of Maulevrier, a brother of the great Colbert. It suffered severely in the War of La Vendee of 1793, insomuch that for years afterwards it was almost without inhabitants.

Related Topics:
Megalithic - Edouard Colbert - Maulevrier - Colbert - War of La Vendee

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