Liré () is a former commune in the

Maine-et-Loire Maine-et-Loire () is a department in the Loire Valley in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France. It is named after the two rivers, Maine and the Loire. It borders Mayenne and Sarthe to the north, Loire-Atlantique to the west, Indr ...

department in western

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. On 15 December 2015, it was merged into the new commune

Orée-d'Anjou Orée-d'Anjou (, literally ''Edge of Anjou'') is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department of western France. Champtoceaux is the municipal seat. History It was established on 15 December 2015 and consists of the former communes of Bouzil ...

. It was the home of the sixteenth-century French poet

Joachim du Bellay Joachim du Bellay (; – 1 January 1560) was a French poet, critic, and a founder of '' La Pléiade''. He notably wrote the manifesto of the group: '' Défense et illustration de la langue française'', which aimed at promoting French as a ...

and is mentioned in his poem " Heureux qui, comme Ulysse, a fait un beau voyage".Charles Baussan, ''L'Anjou'' (Arthaud: Paris, 1955), 218. The village is situated between Nantes and Angers. There is an annual fest called "Comme dans l'temps". It takes place every last Sunday of August. Liré was a part of French Kingdom, from the moment that Anjou was considered to be in the French kingdom too. In 2015 it had more than 2500 inhabitants. The soccer team of Liré is called Olympique Liré Drain. The team is on the PH division, it's the lowest division of the ligue atlantique de football, but it's higher than the district de Maine Et Loire. Liré's économy is mostly agricultural. It takes benefits of the proximity of Toyota's factory and all the services. In the past Liré was called Lyré.

References

Former communes of Maine-et-Loire {{MaineLoire-geo-stub

See also

References