Browse / France / Pays de la Loire / Aizenay
Aizenay
Pays de la Loirevillage
Aizenay
Total population
10,146
Demographic figures from INSEE. Overview below cites Wikipedia and may reference a different year.
City facts
Facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Overview
Aizenay is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France.
Read more on WikipediaHistory & geography
History
There are the remains of cave dwellings along the edge of the Vie river. St. Benedict died in Aizenay in 360 at the Abbey of St. Benedict Quinçay. The church was registered an Aizenay Historical Monument in 2007. On 27 March 1944, an American B-17 named "Big Red" crashed at the edge of the Aizenay in the woodland, killing 4 people. It was part of the 388th brigade which was bombing targets in the Bordeaux region at the time. 50 years later, in December 1994, the book "His Name Was Big Red" was published. On 1 July 1995 the "Path of Remembrance" was created and a monument erected on the site of the crash of the bomber. In fact, the pilot of "Big Red" survived; he hid in nearby woods, and was eventually hidden in a barn in a small hamlet called "La Nicolière", by Mme Idais, who lived in the hamlet. She risked her life (and those of the residents) by hiding the pilot. He was eventually disguised, put on a train, and went to Spain. The pilot died of cancer in the 1990s, but his widow returned to see Mme Idais (by then aged 80) to present her with a copy of the book, translated into French. This book is now available to buy in Aizenay, but at the time, her copy was the only one!
Geography
Aizenay is 15 km north-west of La Roche-sur-Yon, 25 km from Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie and Challans and 30 km from Les Sables d'Olonne (on the Atlantic Ocean Vendée coast). Aizenay is bordered by the communes of La Chapelle-Palluau, Maché, Apremont, Coëx, La Chapelle-Hermier, Martinet, Beaulieu-sous-la-Roche, Venansault, La Génétouze and Le Poiré-sur-Vie. Its northern boundary follows the course of the river Vie. The Aizenay Forest is the most prominent natural feature of the commune.
Excerpted from the corresponding Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA).
Geography
Coordinates & boundaries from the US Census TIGER/Line shapefiles.
Climate
Air quality
Walkability
Amenities nearby
Wildlife & biodiversity
Earthquake history
Photos
Sights & places nearby
Notable people from here
People born within ~10 km, from Wikidata (CC0). Click any name for their Wikipedia article.
Nearby places in Pays de la Loire
- La Genétouze4.6 mi away · pop. 1,976
- Landeronde5.8 mi away · pop. 2,310
- Saint-Georges-de-Pointindoux6.5 mi away · pop. 1,770
- Coëx7.7 mi away · pop. 3,383
- Saint-Julien-des-Landes8.4 mi away · pop. 1,952
- Les Essais8.4 mi away
- Sainte-Flaive-des-Loups8.9 mi away · pop. 2,522
- Saint-Maixent-sur-Vie10.1 mi away · pop. 1,161
- Froidfond11.4 mi away · pop. 2,049
- La Courtille11.7 mi away
- Vairé11.8 mi away · pop. 1,883
- Saint-Mathurin13 mi away · pop. 2,390
Geography & sun
Elevation, sunrise/sunset and daylight from Open-Meteo. Solar climatology from NASA POWER.
Nearby airports
Public attention
Pageview totals from the Wikimedia Pageviews API.
Books about this place
Recent natural events nearby
Ground air-quality sensors
Recently spotted species
Events
Gallery
Official Identifiers
INSEE — French National Institute of Statistics
- INSEE code
- 85003
- Department
- 85
- Region
- 52
- Population (Wikidata)
- 10,365
geo.api.gouv.fr
Sources
- • Wikipedia
- • Wikidata
- • Open-Meteo / sunrise-sunset.org
- • Wikipedia Pageviews API
- • Wikidata SPARQL (CC0) — population, area, elevation, inception, head of government, Commons image
- • INSEE — French national statistics, via geo.api.gouv.fr (official commune code, population, surface, department, region)
- • INSEE — French National Institute of Statistics — geo.api.gouv.fr