Liré () 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

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, Indre-e ...

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 15 December 2015, it was merged into the new commune

Orée-d'Anjou Orée-d'Anjou (, literally ''Edge of Anjou'') is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department of western France. Champtoceaux is the municipal seat. History It was established on 15 December 2015 and consists of the former communes of Bouzill� ...

. It was the home of the sixteenth-century French poet

Joachim du Bellay Joachim du Bellay (; – 1 January 1560) was a French poet, critic, and a founder of the Pléiade. He notably wrote the manifesto of the group: '' Défense et illustration de la langue française'', which aimed at promoting French as an a ...

and is mentioned in his poem " Heureux qui, comme Ulysse, a fait un beau voyage".Charles Baussan, ''L'Anjou'' (Arthaud: Paris, 1955), 218. The village is situated between Nantes and Angers. There is an annual fest called "Comme dans l'temps". It takes place every last Sunday of August. Liré was a part of French Kingdom, from the moment that Anjou was considered to be in the French kingdom too. In 2015 it had more than 2500 inhabitants. The soccer team of Liré is called Olympique Liré Drain. The team is on the PH division, it's the lowest division of the ligue atlantique de football, but it's higher than the district de Maine Et Loire. Liré's économy is mostly agricultural. It takes benefits of the proximity of Toyota's factory and all the services. In the past Liré was called Lyré.

See also