Piopolis is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

of about 400 people in Le Granit Regional County Municipality in the

Estrie Estrie () is an administrative region of Quebec that comprises the Eastern Townships. ''Estrie'', a French neologism, was coined as a derivative of ''est'', "east". Originally settled by anglophones, today it is about 90 per cent francophone. Angl ...

region in Quebec, Canada. The name of the town means, 'city of the Pope' in recognition of the service of loyal Roman Catholics who answered the call by Pope Pius IX to defend The Vatican in 1860. A group of 14 returned

Papal Zouaves The Papal Zouaves ( it, Zuavi Pontifici) were an infantry battalion, later regiment, dedicated to defending the Papal States. Named after the French zouave regiments, the ' were mainly young men, unmarried and Catholic, who volunteered to assist P ...

, led by a missionary priest departed Montreal in 1871 and traveled by rail, stagecoach and on foot to land grants on the borders of the diocese of

Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières (, – 'Three Rivers') is a city in the Mauricie administrative region of Quebec, Canada, at the confluence of the Saint-Maurice and Saint Lawrence rivers, on the north shore of the Saint Lawrence River across from the city of ...

, in the township of Marston, on the edge of Lake Mégantic to build a new city dedicated to Pope Pius IX who they had served in Rome. There they discovered only a small logging camp building. Piopolis was officially founded on September 24, 1871. All but one of the original settlers left over the following decades. At its peak, the parish's population was in 1932 with 37 families and 523 souls. In 2011, la Halte des Zouaves was opened as a tourist stop on the Route des Sommets to display the history of the Municipality. The present day population is approximately 400 and supports several small businesses, the municipal office, and garage.

References

Municipalities in Quebec Incorporated places in Estrie Le Granit Regional County Municipality {{Estrie-geo-stub