Cholet (probably from Latin
cauletum, "cabbage") is a
communeThe commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. The French word commune appeared in the 12th century, from Medieval Latin communia, meaning a small gathering of people sharing a common life; from Latin communis, things held in common.French communes are roughly...
in the
Maine-et-LoireMaine-et-Loire is a department in west-central France.- History :See: AnjouMaine-et-Loire is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. Originally it was called Mayenne-et-Loire, but its name was changed to Maine-et-Loire in 1791. It was created from...
department of western
FranceFrance , officially the French Republic , is a country located in Western Europe, with several overseas islands and territories located on other continents. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean...
. It was the capital of military Vendée.
Geography
Cholet stands on an eminence on the right bank of the Moine, which used to be crossed by a bridge from the fifteenth century.
History
The town owes the rise of its prosperity to the settlement of weavers there by Édouard Colbert, count of
MaulévrierMaulévrier is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France....
, a brother of the great
Jean-Baptiste ColbertJean-Baptiste Colbert served as the French minister of finance from 1665 to 1683 under the rule of King Louis XIV. He was described by Mme de Sévigné as "Le Nord", because he was cold and unemotional. His relentless hard work and thrift made him an esteemed minister...
. It then became an estate of Gabriel François, Count de Rougé and Marquess of Cholet, who developed the city and its economy. The main commercial mall being built this year is named after him: The "Arcades Rougé".
During the early years of the French revolutionary wars, the town found itself at the heart of the counter-revolutionary struggle in the Vendée, culminating in October 1793 with the
Battle of CholetThe Battle of Cholet was fought on 17 October 1793 during the French Revolutionary Wars, between French Republican forces under General Léchelle and French Royalist Forces under Gigot d’Elbée. The battle was fought in the town of Cholet in the Maine-et-Loire department of France, and ended in a...
which was won by the republicans and followed by a period of brutal government repression.
Cholet hosted Stage 4 (Individual Time Trial) and was the departure of Stage 5 in the
2008 Tour de FranceThe 2008 Tour de France was the 95th Tour de France. The event took place from 5–27 July 2008. Starting in the French city of Brest, the tour entered Italy on the 15th stage and returned to France during the 16th, heading for Paris, its regular final destination, which was reached in the 21st stage...
.
Sights
A public garden occupies the site of the old castle; the public buildings and churches, for example the
Church of the Sacred HeartChurch of the Sacred Heart is a name shared by several churches of the Roman Catholic Church, referring to the Sacred Heart of Jesus Christ.*Church of the Sacred Heart, Dublin*Church of the Sacred Heart, Minnesota...
(1939), are modern.
MegalithA megalith is a large stone which has been used to construct a structure or monument, either alone or together with other stones. Megalithic describes structures made of such large stones, utilizing an interlocking system without the use of mortar or cement.The word 'megalith' comes from the...
ic monuments are numerous in the neighborhood.
A textile museum (
Musée du Textile) exists to conserve the traditional machines used to create the famous
handkerchiefA handkerchief is a form of a kerchief, typically a hemmed square of thin fabric that can be carried in the pocket or purse, and which is intended for personal hygiene purposes such as wiping one's hands or face, or blowing one's nose...
s made in this town, as well as the techniques used to make them and the oral and local history associated with the industry.
Economy
There are
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as porphyry. Granites can be pink to dark gray or even black, depending on their...
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.
WoolWool is a fibrous protein derived from the specialized skin cells called follicles. The wool is taken from animals in the Caprinae family, principally sheep, but the hair of certain species of other mammals including: goats, llamas, and rabbits may also be called wool...
en and
cottonCotton is a soft, staple fiber that grows in a form known as a boll around the seeds of the cotton plant, a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, India and Africa. The fiber most often is spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft,...
fabrics are also produced, and bleaching and the manufacture of preserved foods are carried on. Cholet is the most important center in France for the sale of fat
cattleCattle are the most common type of large domesticated ungulates. They are a prominent modern member of the subfamily Bovinae, are the most widespread species of the genus Bos, and are most commonly classified collectively as Bos primigenius...
, sheep and
pigPigs are a genus of even-toed ungulates within the family Suidae. The name hog most commonly refers to the domestic pig in everyday parlance, but technically encompasses several distinct species, including the wild boar...
s, for which Paris is the chief market.
Twin towns
Cholet is twinned with:
- Oldenburg
|Oldenburg is an Independent City in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated in the western part of the state between the cities of Bremen and Groningen, Netherlands, at the Hunte river. It has a population of 158,341 which makes it the fourth biggest in Lower Saxony after Hanover, Braunschweig and...
, GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
since 1985
- Dorohoi
Dorohoi is a city in the Botoşani County, Romania, on the right bank of the Jijia River, which broadens into a lake on the north.Dorohoi used to be a market for the timber and farm produce of the north Moldavian highlands; merchants from the neighboring states flocked to its great fair, held on the...
, RomaniaRomania is a country located in Southeastern and Central Europe, North of the Balkan Peninsula, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Almost all of the Danube Delta is located within its territory...
- Solihull
Solihull is a large town in the West Midlands of England, with a population of 94,753. It is a part of the West Midlands conurbation and is located 9 miles southeast of Birmingham city centre...
, United KingdomThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
- Denia
Denia , is a city in the province of Alicante, Spain, on the Costa Blanca halfway between Alicante and Valencia, the judicial seat of the comarca of Marina Alta...
, SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
- Sao, Burkina Faso - cooperation
- Pierre-De Saurel Regional County Municipality (Quebec
Quebec is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking identity and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
, CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
) - twinning of the communauté d'agglomérationThe Communauté d'Agglomération du Choletais, also simply known as CAC, is the intercommunal structure gathering the city of Cholet and some of its suburbs.It's located in the Maine-et-Loire département, in the Pays de la Loire région ....
External links