Mauves-sur-Loire

The Commune and the Town

Mauves-sur-Loire is a small town situated 10 miles from Nantes on the north bank of the River Loire with the main road from Nantes to Paris passing just to the north of it. The town is positioned on the southern edge of the commune (parish area) which runs for about two miles along the banks of the river and inland for about 5 miles.

The river frontage is very steeply sloping and in one area, where the railway had to be cut through on the edge of the river, there is now a cliff face. The slopes are cut by short, steep sided, stream valleys while the whole of the south west boundary of the commune is formed by the valley of the Gobert stream. Running off from this valley is another steep sided valley, parallel to the river, which divides the commune into two unequal portions. This valley is heavily wooded and known as the Coulée de Rochart. The commune is also split along lines parallel to the river by firstly the railway line, then Route Nationale 23 and then the A 11 Motorway.

The town area is in two halves with the old town (Le Port) down on the flood plain of the Loire and the new town above the port on a plateau between two small valleys. The remainder of the commune area is farm land interspersed with small hamlets and individual houses. Some new housing development has recently taken place on the two small plateaux to the east of the town and also adjacent to RN 23.

Mauves was originally linked to the south bank of the Loire by a ford. This ford was removed by dredging of the river during the middle of the 18th Century and the only crossing was by ferry boat. This situation was only improved when the ferry crossing was replaced by the present bridge in 1882. Designed by Eiffel it is one of a series across the lower Loire.

The town logo symbolises the town with the church spire overlooking the River Loire with the bridge linking to the south bank and to the future.