Machecoul ( br, Machikoul) 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

Loire-Atlantique Loire-Atlantique (; br, Liger-Atlantel; before 1957: ''Loire-Inférieure'', br, Liger-Izelañ, link=no) is a department in Pays de la Loire on the west coast of France, named after the river Loire and the Atlantic Ocean. It had a population o ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in western

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of

Machecoul-Saint-Même Machecoul-Saint-Même (; br, Machikoul-Sant-Masen) is a commune in the department of Loire-Atlantique, western France. The municipality was established on 1 January 2016 by merger of the former communes of Machecoul and Saint-Même-le-Tenu.

.Arrêté préfectoral
23 November 2015. Its 5,732 inhabitants are called ''Machecoulais''. It was the site of

First Massacre of Machecoul The Machecoul massacre is one of the first events of the War in the Vendée, a revolt against mass conscription and the civil constitution of the clergy. The first massacre took place on 11 March 1793, in the provincial city of Machecoul, ...

, the opening of the

War in the Vendée The war in the Vendée (french: link=no, Guerre de Vendée) was a counter-revolution from 1793 to 1796 in the Vendée region of France during the French Revolution. The Vendée is a coastal region, located immediately south of the river Loir ...

in 1793.

Geography

The

of Machecoul is surrounded by the following

communes An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...

: *in

Bourgneuf-en-Retz Bourgneuf-en-Retz (; br, Bourc'hnevez-Raez) is a former commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Villeneuve-en-Retz.Fresnay-en-Retz Fresnay-en-Retz (, literally ''Fresnay in Retz''; br, Onnod-Raez) is a former commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Villeneuve-en-Retz.Saint-Même-le-Tenu Saint-Même-le-Tenu (; br, Sant-Masen-ar-Porzh) is a former commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of Machecoul-Saint-Même.Saint-Mars-de-Coutais Saint-Mars-de-Coutais (; br, Sant-Marzh-ar-C'hoad) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. Transport Gare de Port-Saint-Père-Saint-Mars is served by train services between Pornic, Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie and Na ...

, Saint-Lumine-de-Coutais,

Saint-Philbert-de-Grand-Lieu Saint-Philbert-de-Grand-Lieu (; br, Sant-Filberzh-Deaz) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. It is about 400 km southwest of Paris, via Chartres, Le Mans, Angers, and Nantes. The town is twinned with the ...

, La Marne, Paulx *in

Vendée Vendée (; br, Vande) is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.

: Bois-de-Céné.

Population

Sights

* Gallo-Roman ''Wood Lighthouse'' (''"Phare à Bois"''). * 8th-century Merovingian sarcophagi. * Many old mills. * 11th-century ''Notre-Dame-de-la-Chaume'' abbey. * Former 13th-century Romanesque church. * ''La Trinité'' church (1881). * 11th-century ''Cahouët Bridge'' (''"Pont de Cahouët"''), wrongly called the "Roman Bridge" (''"Pont Romain"'') – it does not date from Roman times. Small bridge over the river '' Falleron''. * Castle of Machecoul, also known as "Castle of

Gilles de Rais Gilles de Rais (c. 1405 – 26 October 1440), Baron de Rais (), was a knight and lord from Brittany, Anjou and Poitou, a leader in the French army, and a companion-in-arms of Joan of Arc. He is best known for his reputation and later convi ...

" ("''Château de

''") or "

Bluebeard "Bluebeard" (french: Barbe bleue, ) is a French folktale, the most famous surviving version of which was written by Charles Perrault and first published by Barbin in Paris in 1697 in ''Histoires ou contes du temps passé''. The tale tells the st ...

's castle" ("''Château de Barbe-Bleue''"): close to the town centre are the ruins of the 13th-century castle of the town, once owned by the infamous child-murderer

(1404–1440). Nowadays, on summer evenings, one can partake of a ''son et lumière'' show telling his story. * The "''Auditoire''" (18th-century). A former court's main hall (central part), which was built in 1755. * The ''Lime Kiln'' (''"Four à Chaux"'') (1857). Located on Saint-Michel Island, rich in limestone. Restored in 2001. * ''Les Halles'' (1885). * The ''Hippodrome des Chaumes'' (1885). * The former ''Segin Distillery'' (1886).

Economy

On the edge of town is the ''

Gitane Gitane is a French manufacturer of bicycles based in Machecoul, France; the name "Gitane" means gypsy woman. The brand was synonymous with French bicycle racing from the 1960s through the mid-1980s, sponsoring riders such as Jacques Anquetil (1963 ...

'' bicycle factory. Fans of the ''

Tour de France The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...

'' will recall the Breton cyclist

Bernard Hinault Bernard Hinault (; born 14 November 1954) is a French former professional road cyclist. With 147 professional victories, including five times the Tour de France, he is often named among the greatest cyclists of all time. In his career, Hinault ...

riding for them in the 1970s. Machecoul has a weekly street market where one can buy roasted ''poulet noir'', the black chicken of

Challans Challans () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. Challans station has rail connections to Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie and Nantes. Population Notable people * Pauline de Lézardière, born ...

Twin towns

Machecoul is twinned with: *

Ühlingen-Birkendorf Ühlingen-Birkendorf is a municipality in the district of Waldshut in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Notable people *Karl Albiker (1878–1961), sculptor See also * List of cities and towns in Germany This is a complete list of the 2,05 ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

; *

Shifnal Shifnal is a market town and civil parish in Shropshire, England, about east of Telford, 17 miles (27 km) east of the county town of Shrewsbury and 13 miles (20 km) west-northwest of the city of Wolverhampton. It is near the M54 mo ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

; * Valea Drăganului,

Transylvania Transylvania ( ro, Ardeal or ; hu, Erdély; german: Siebenbürgen) is a historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and south its natural border is the Carpathian Mountains, and to the west the Ap ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

People

Machecoul was the birthplace of: *

(1404–1440), noble, soldier, and one time brother-in-arms of

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronati ...

. He was later accused and ultimately convicted of

torturing Torture is the deliberate infliction of severe pain or suffering on a person for reasons such as punishment, extracting a confession, interrogation for information, or intimidating third parties. Some definitions are restricted to acts c ...

raping Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or a ...

and

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

ing dozens, if not hundreds, of young children, mostly boys. * Marc Daviaud (born 1958), retired French professional footballer *

Marc Éliard Marc or MARC may refer to: People * Marc (given name), people with the first name * Marc (surname), people with the family name Acronyms * MARC standards, a data format used for library cataloging, * MARC Train, a regional commuter rail system o ...

(born 1958), bass player of the new wave/

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wales ...

band Indochine. * Cédric Michaud (born 1976), marathon

speed skater Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...

. *

Mickaël Landreau Mickaël Vincent André-Marie Landreau (; born 14 May 1979) is a French professional football manager and former player who played as a goalkeeper. Landreau holds the record for Ligue 1 appearances, with 618 for Nantes, Paris Saint-Germain, L ...

(born 1979), professional

football (soccer) Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player.