Vihiers () is a former

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the Maine-et-Loire department in western

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Lys-Haut-Layon.Arrêté préfectoral
18 December 2015

Geography

Vihiers is around 30 km south of

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...

, around 30 km northeast of

Cholet Cholet (, , probably from Latin language, Latin ''cauletum'', "cabbage") is a Communes of France, commune of western France in the Maine-et-Loire Departments of France, department. With 54,307 inhabitants (2019), it is the second most populous c ...

, and around 80 km east of Nantes. Main road D960 skirts the village. Public transport is provided by the regional bus company Aléop (services to Angers, Cholet and Saumur) and the local bus company Choletbus.

History

In January 1974 the former communes of Saint-Hilaire-du-Bois and Le Voide were merged into the commune of Vihiers.Commune du Voide (49379), commune déléguée
INSEE At the creation of the ''

commune nouvelle The () is a level of administrative division in the French Republic. French are analogous to civil townships and incorporated municipalities in the United States and Canada, ' in Germany, ' in Italy, or ' in Spain. The United Kingdom's equ ...

'' of Lys-Haut-Layon in 2016, the three former communes Vihiers, Saint-Hilaire-du-Bois and Le Voide became delegated communes.

Notable people

Henry Nicollon des Abbayes Henry Robert Nicollon des Abbayes (15 July 1898 – 21 May 1974) was a French botanist and lichenologist. He was the chair of the Botanical Department of the University of Rennes and an expert on the flora of Great Britain The flora of Great Brit ...

(1898-1974), professor of botany who was an authority on lichens, and also undertook a noted study of the flora of

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

, was born in Vihiers.

Geography

History

Notable people

See also