Torfou, Maine-et-Loire

Torfou

Coat of arms

Torfou

Location within Pays de la Loire region

Torfou

Coordinates: 47°02′18″N 1°06′53″W / 47.0383°N 1.1147°WCoordinates: 47°02′18″N 1°06′53″W / 47.0383°N 1.1147°W

Country

Communauté de communes de Moine-et-Sèvre

Government

• Mayor (2008-2014)

Paul Manceau

Area¹

32.35 km² (12.49 sq mi)

Population (2009)²

2,077

• Density

64/km² (170/sq mi)

INSEE/Postal code

49350 / 49660

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

² Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Torfou is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.

Inhabitants of Torfou are known as Torfousiens and Torfousiennes.

Geography

Torfou covers 32.35 km² and had a population of 2077 inhabitants in 2009.^[1]

It is situated along the Sèvre Nantaise river, 25 miles (40 km) Southeast of Nantes, and 12 miles (20 km) West of Cholet (reachable by rail from both cities).

The town is also at the border of three former provinces : Anjou (Maine-et-Loire), Poitou (Vendée), and Brittany (Loire-Atlantique).

History

During the early years of the French revolutionary wars, the town found itself at the heart of the counter-revolutionary struggle in the Vendée, especially on 19 September 1793, with the Battle of Torfou. This battle pitted many Royalist military leaders against Republican troops under Kléber and Canclaux and followed by a period of brutal government repression.

Sights

La Pierre Tournisse - Torfou (49)

La Pierre Tournisse, round monolith of granite standing on an hillock.
La Colonne, column situated at the crossroads of roads D149 and D753, commemorating the Battle of Torfou.
La Voie Romaine, a Roman road which was following the Sèvre Nantaise river and linking Nantes to Poitiers during Roman times.
Les bords de Sèvre, the Sèvre Nantaise river banks.