Chavagnes-en-Paillers

The post office in Chavagnes-En-Paillers

Coat of arms

Chavagnes-en-Paillers

Location within Pays de la Loire region

Chavagnes-en-Paillers

Coordinates: 46°53′36″N 1°15′05″W / 46.8933°N 1.2514°WCoordinates: 46°53′36″N 1°15′05″W / 46.8933°N 1.2514°W

Country

Saint-Fulgent

Canton de Saint-Fulgent

Government

• Mayor (2008–2014)

Éric Salaün

Area¹

40.57 km² (15.66 sq mi)

Population (2006)²

3,291

• Density

81/km² (210/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

INSEE/Postal code

85065 /85250

Elevation

36–92 m (118–302 ft)

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

²Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Chavagnes-en-Paillers is a commune of the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France.

Chavagnes en Paillers is known as one of the two villes saintes (holy towns) of the Vendée. (The other is Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre). It is home to the mother-houses of two religious congregations: the Sons of Mary Immaculate and the Ursulines of Jesus, both founded by the Venerable Louis-Marie Baudouin in about 1802 in the wake of the French Revolution (1789) and the War in the Vendée (mainly 1793-1796).

Still present also in Chavagnes is the seminary Father Baudouin founded for the training of boys and men destined for the priesthood. It was the first junior seminary to be approved in France after the Revolution. It now continues as Chavagnes International College, an international Catholic boarding school for boys, teaching through the medium of English.

The word Chavagnes is thought to come from the dog Latin cabanas, meaning cabins. The inhabitants are known as Chavagnais.

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Wikipedia