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The Oudon () is a long river in the
Mayenne Mayenne ( ) is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Il ...
and
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 ...
'' départements'', western France. Its source is near La Gravelle. It flows generally south east. It is a
right tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream ('' main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which the ...
of the
Mayenne Mayenne ( ) is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Il ...
into which it flows between Le Lion-d'Angers and Grez-Neuville. Its main tributary is the
Verzée The Verzée () is a river in the Loire-Atlantique and Maine-et-Loire '' départements'', western France. Its source is at Soudan. It flows generally east-southeast. It is a right tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or riv ...
.


''Départements'' and communes along its course

The river flows through the following ''départements'' and localities, from source to mouth: * Mayenne: La Gravelle, Saint-Cyr-le-Gravelais, Ruillé-le-Gravelais, Montjean, Beaulieu-sur-Oudon, Méral,
Cossé-le-Vivien Cossé-le-Vivien () is a commune in the Mayenne department in north-western France. Geography The river Oudon flows through the middle of the commune and forms most of its north-western border. It contains museum dedicated to Robert Tatins w ...
, La Chapelle-Craonnaise, Athée, Livré-la-Touche, Craon, Bouchamps-lès-Craon, Chérancé * Maine-et-Loire: Châtelais, L'Hôtellerie-de-Flée,
Nyoiseau Nyoiseau () is a former commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. On 15 December 2016, it was merged into the new commune Segré-en-Anjou Bleu.Sainte-Gemmes-d'Andigné Sainte-Gemmes-d'Andigné (, literally ''Sainte-Gemmes- of Andigné'') is a former commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. On 15 December 2016, it was merged into the new commune Segré-en-Anjou Bleu.Segré Segré () is a former commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. On 15 December 2016, it was merged into the new commune Segré-en-Anjou Bleu.La Chapelle-sur-Oudon, Andigné,
Louvaines Louvaines () is a former commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. On 15 December 2016, it was merged into the new commune Segré-en-Anjou Bleu.Saint-Martin-du-Bois, Montreuil-sur-Maine, Le Lion-d'Angers and Grez-Neuville


Navigation

The Oudon was canalised in the 19th century from Segré to the river Mayenne, over a distance of 18 km with three locks. The waterway was used to transport timber for construction,
granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...
and
slate Slate is a fine-grained, foliated, homogeneous, metamorphic rock derived from an original shale-type sedimentary rock composed of clay or volcanic ash through low-grade, regional metamorphism. It is the finest-grained foliated metamorphic ro ...
. The river, restored to navigation in 1980, is now part of the popular Anjou river network, with the Mayenne, Sarthe and their "common trunk" of the Maine down to the river Loire.


References

{{Reflist Rivers of France Rivers of Mayenne Rivers of Maine-et-Loire Rivers of Pays de la Loire


External sources


River Mayenne (River Maine) and River Oudon
with maps and details of places, ports and moorings, by the author of ''Inland Waterways of France'', Imray
Navigation details for 80 French rivers and canals
(French waterways website section)