Coron is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in the Pays de la Loire region, 20 km north-east from Cholet.
The territory of the locality, vast of 31.9 km ², belongs to the natural region of Mauges, with the borders of the Vendée, on the last buttresses of the Armorican massif, which explains the presence of granite in its basement.
Already inhabited during Prehistory, the site developed in the Middle Ages with the creation of a Benedictine priory, now disappeared.
The parish sometimes belongs to the diocese of Poitiers or La Rochelle, and the family of the lords of Coron maintains the village in peace until the Wars of Religion. Huguenots looted the church of Coron in 1587 and the parish was ransacked nine years later.
In the seventeenth century, the locality is experiencing a boom thanks to the production and sale of textile fabrics, but this activity will be annihilated by the competition factories Cholet.
In 1793, the village was twice the scene of two fierce battles during the war of Vendée and Coron is once again ransacked in 1794 by the Republican troops.
After a long reconstruction, Coron has recovered some dynamism. The activity is essentially agricultural, complemented by crafts specialized in the granite size.
Its landscape of grove, its heritage elements testifying to a millennial history and leisure "nature" that are proposed make the village of about 1,600 inhabitants a pleasant step.
If there are only ruins of the old stately castles, including the Roche des Aubiers, several built heritage elements are worth a look.
This is the case of the Saint-Louis church, whose reconstruction was completed in 1876, adorned with a beautiful Way of the Cross. In the center of the village, still, where we notice some old weavers houses typical of their vast cellars where were installed trades, to see, the chapel Notre-Dame-de-Vertu, with beautiful stained glass windows in the choir. The building was also rebuilt during the second half of the 19th century. Previously, on the same site, a hospital and a chapel had been established, inheritances of a primitive priory of the Middle Ages.
In another register, away from the village, one will observe with interest the menhir of the Pierre des Hommes, which presents the shape of a solid sugar loaf with rectangular base.
Finally, at the site of the same name, the windmill of the Noue-Ronde deserves a detour. Listed monument, it was rebuilt in 1890 replacing a first mill of the eighteenth century. Its elevated tower has a shingle hairstyle. Restored in 1941, its wings powered grinding wheels to produce flour and, if necessary, a gas generator engine mitigated the lack of wind...
These sites feature on several hiking trails that also include more or less long incursions in the surrounding countryside whose landscape is typical of the Vendée grove, punctuated with hedges. Brochures and documentation on +33 2 41 23 51 51.
As for sport and leisure, a sports course has been set up in the village, as well as a skate park (information +33 2 41 55 81 89) and it is possible to reserve a tennis court by contacting +33 2 41 55 85 25.
Fishing enthusiasts are also welcome. Join +33 2 41 87 57 09 to know the adapted sites and the regulations in force.
