- Machecoul
French commune
nomcommune=Machecoul
Coat of arms of Machecoul
région=Pays de la Loire
département=Loire-Atlantique
arrondissement=Nantes
canton=Machecoul
insee=44087
cp=44270
maire=Alain de la Garanderie
mandat=2008-2014
intercomm=Région de Machecoul
longitude=-1.82166666667
latitude=46.9938888889
alt moy=5 m
alt mini=0 m
alt maxi=36 m
hectares=6,662
km²=66.62
sans=5,420
date-sans=1999
dens=81
date-dens=1999Machecoul is a commune of the
Loire-Atlantique "département" inFrance . Its inhabitants are called "Machecoulais" and "Machecoulaises".Geography
The commune of Machecoul is surrounded by the following communes:
*Loire-Atlantique "département":Bourgneuf-en-Retz ,Fresnay-en-Retz ,Saint-Même-le-Tenu ,Saint-Mars-de-Coutais ,Saint-Lumine-de-Coutais ,Saint-Philbert-de-Grand-Lieu ,La Marne ,Paulx
*Vendée "département":Bois-de-Céné .ights
Close to the town centre is a castle once owned by the infamous child-murderer
Gilles de Rais (1404-1440), and on summer evenings one can partake of a "son-et-lumiere" show telling his story.* Abbaye Notre-Dame de la Chaume
* 13th century Romanesque churchEconomy
On the edge of town is the
Gitane bicycle factory. Fans of theTour de France will recall the Breton cyclistBernard Hinault riding for them in the 1970s.Machecoul has a weekly street market where one can buy roasted "poulet noir", the black chicken of
Challans .Miscellaneous
Machecoul is twinned with
Shifnal ,Shropshire ,United Kingdom . Pupils from the secondary schools annually do a student exchange programme with children aged 13-14.Births
Machecoul was the birthplace of:
*Gilles de Rais (1404-1440), noble, soldier, and one time brother-in-arms ofJoan of Arc . He was later accused and ultimately convicted of torturing, raping andmurder ing dozens, if not hundreds, of young children
*Marc Eliard (born 1958), bass player of the new wave/rock band Indochine
*Cédric Michaud (born 1976), marathon speed skater
*Mickaël Landreau (born 1979), professionalfootball (soccer) player
*David Leray (born 1984), football (soccer) defender
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
