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Château-Gontier () is a former commune 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 ...
department in north-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 1 January 2019, it was merged into the new commune Château-Gontier-sur-Mayenne.


Geography

It is about south of Laval, the préfecture of the department of Mayenne. Château-Gontier is home to the Refuge de l'Arche, also known as the Ark Refug

a refuge for abandoned or mistreated animals.


History

There are
chalybeate Chalybeate () waters, also known as Iron oxide, ferruginous waters, are mineral spring waters containing salts of iron. Name The word ''chalybeate'' is derived from the Latin word for steel, , which follows from the Ancient Greek, Greek word ...
springs close to the town. Château-Gontier owes its origin and its name to a castle erected in the first half of the 11th century by Gunther, the steward of Fulk Nerra of Anjou, on the site of a farm belonging to the monks of St Aubin d’Angers. On the extinction of the family, the lordship was assigned by
Louis XI of France Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revolt known as the ...
to Philippe de Comines. The town suffered severely during the wars of the League. In 1793 it was occupied by the Vendeans.


Culture and heritage

The following buildings have been listed as historical monuments: *The ruined 13th century castle *The 11th century church of Saint John Baptist *The church of the Holy Trinity *The 12th century chapel of Le Genneteil *The 16th century chapel of Le Moulinet *The 17th century Hôtel de Lantivy


People

*
Conan II, Duke of Brittany Conan may refer to: People * Saint Conan (died 684), bishop of the Isle of Man * Conan of Cornwall (c. 930 – c. 950), bishop of Cornwall * Conan I of Rennes (died 992), duke of Brythonic Brittany * Conan II, Duke of Brittany (died 1066), duke o ...
was found dead here during the Breton Norman Wars, likely the victim of poisoning. *
Claude Pompidou Claude Jacqueline Pompidou (née Cahour; 13 November 1912 – 3 July 2007) was the wife of President of France Georges Pompidou. She was a philanthropist and a patron of modern art, especially through the Centre Georges Pompidou. Life before ...
was born here. * General Emile-René Lemonnier was born and buried here. * Louis-François Allard (1735-1819), physician and politician. * Guy de Charnacé (1825–1909), agronomist, writer, musicologist was born here. * Alexis Roger, French composer (1814–1846), was born here. *
Olivier Peslier Olivier Peslier (born 12 January 1973 in Château-Gontier) is a French thoroughbred horse racing jockey. Peslier competes in flat racing mainly in France but travels often around the world for the big international races. From 2003 to 2014, he wa ...
, French horse racing jockey was born here.


Climate


See also

*
Communes of the Mayenne department The following is a list of the 240 communes of the Mayenne department of France. The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):Former communes of Mayenne States and territories disestablished in 2019 Populated places disestablished in 2019 {{Mayenne-geo-stub