This calm town in the Loire Valley maintains its textile-making traditions. Its historic center, lined with stone churches and local shops, reflects its industrial past.
Cholet sits in western France's Maine-et-Loire department, where textile factories operate near historical sites like the Church of the Sacred Heart with its striped stone patterns. Factories here have made cloth since the 1600s, particularly the red-and-white handkerchiefs adopted after local conflicts. You can watch working looms at the Textile Museum, stroll through Jardin du Mail's geometric flower beds on old castle grounds, or see cyclists race past Place Travot's spinning carousel. The town provides easy access to medieval castles like Tiffauges and the Japanese garden at Maulevrier, which spans 29 hectares. Many visitors use Cholet as a starting point to explore these nearby attractions while staying in walkable urban surroundings.
Textile Production History
The Musée du Textile et de la Mode occupies a former industrial laundry building from the 1800s. Workers here demonstrate century-old Jacquard looms that still produce patterned fabrics today. Guides explain how linen weaving changed to cotton after 18th-century battles, when fighters used white cloths as identification during uprisings. After peace returned, dyers added red stripes to these handkerchiefs as symbols of unity - you can watch this process during museum workshops. Exhibits trace how family weaving operations grew into large factories that supplied materials for Parisian clothing designers through the 1900s.
Notable Buildings
Cholet's skyline shows contrasting styles between the pointed spires of Notre-Dame church and the rounded concrete dome of Église du Sacré-Cœur. Notre-Dame's twin towers rise above Place Travot, where an ornate 19th-century theater building now functions as a hotel. The Sacred Heart Church displays mosaic scenes from local history across its curved walls, completed just before World War II. Along Rue Saint-Jean-Paul II, three-story houses from the 1880s have detailed iron balcony railings and arched window frames. Near the town hall, a 4-meter-tall prehistoric stone stands where ancient people placed it over 5,000 years ago.
Seasonal Activities
Professional cyclists race through Cholet's streets every March during the Grand Prix event, tackling steep climbs near the town center. In April, teams of volunteers build massive glowing floats for the night carnival, using enough electrical wiring to stretch from the textile museum to Parc Oriental de Maulevrier. Summer brings free jazz performances to Parc de Moine's outdoor stage on weekends, while autumn marks the start of basketball games at La Meilleraie arena. The textile museum hosts monthly demonstrations where visitors can try operating miniature looms or designing fabric patterns.
Gardens and Outdoor Areas
Jardin du Mail follows the layout of a destroyed medieval castle, with gravel paths winding between rose varieties and a stone bridge crossing the Moine River. Along the riverbanks, Parc de Moine has walking trails that pass duck-filled ponds and exercise stations. The Japanese garden at Maulevrier requires a 15-minute drive southeast but rewards visitors with carefully pruned pines, zigzagging wooden bridges, and a tea ceremony house open weekends. Near Cholet's eastern edge, Parc du Menhir combines grassy picnic spots with ancient standing stones arranged in circular formations. Town gardeners plant 50,000 flowers annually to maintain Cholet's four-star "ville fleurie" rating.
Nearby Attractions
The 12th-century Château de Tiffauges lies 30 minutes by car, displaying reconstructed trebuchets and catapults in its courtyard. Clisson, a 40-minute drive northwest, resembles an Italian village with its arched stone bridge and hilltop castle ruins overlooking vineyards. Angers Castle houses the 1370s Apocalypse Tapestry inside its 17-tower fortress walls, accessible by direct train from Cholet. Brissac-Quincé's seven-story château contains a working theater and wine cellars offering tastings. Local vintners in Aubigné-sur-Layon pour samples of white wines made in cellars beneath 15th-century wooden houses.
Visiting Tips
Farmers sell fresh goat cheese, preserved meats, and white beans at Place de la RĂ©publique's outdoor markets every Saturday and Monday morning. Trains from Cholet station reach Nantes in 60 minutes and Angers in 40 minutes, with regional buses departing from the same complex. Free parking lots near the town center include spaces at Parc des Expositions, a 10-minute walk from the textile museum. Most restaurants and shops concentrate around Place Travot, but renting bicycles from the tourism office helps reach sites like the converted water towers hosting art exhibitions. Between attractions, look for information plaques detailing Cholet's industrial past along pedestrianized streets.
