Loir en Vallée (, literally ''

Loir The Loir is a long river in western France. It is a left tributary of the Sarthe. Its source is in the Eure-et-Loir department, north of Illiers-Combray. It joins the river Sarthe in Briollay, north of the city of Angers. It is indirectly ...

in Valley'') is a commune in the department of

Sarthe Sarthe () is a department of the French region of Pays de la Loire, and the province of Maine, situated in the '' Grand-Ouest'' of the country. It is named after the river Sarthe, which flows from east of Le Mans to just north of Angers. It ha ...

, northwestern

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 ...

. The municipality was established on 1 January 2017 by merger of the former communes of

Ruillé-sur-Loir Ruillé-sur-Loir (, literally ''Ruillé on Loir'') is a former commune in the Sarthe department in the Pays de la Loire region in north-western France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Loir en Vallée. The village has a me ...

(the seat), La Chapelle-Gaugain, Lavenay and Poncé-sur-le-Loir. Ruillé-sur-Loir was the first home to the Brothers of St. Joseph, now the

Congregation of Holy Cross The Congregation of Holy Cross (), abbreviated CSC, is a Catholic clerical religious congregation of pontifical right for men founded in 1837 by Basil Moreau, in Le Mans, France. Moreau also founded the Marianites of Holy Cross for women, n ...

associated with the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac (known simply as Notre Dame; ; ND) is a Private university, private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, United States. Founded in 1842 by members of the Congregation of Holy Cross, a Cathol ...

in the USA.https://holycrosscongregation.org/news/congregation-kicks-off-celebratory-year-marking-the-200th-anniversary-of-the-brothers-of-st-joseph/

Population

See also