Chavagnes-en-Paillers

Chavagnes-en-Paillers (French pronunciation: [ʃavaɲ ɑ̃ paje]) is a commune of the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France.

Chavagnes-en-Paillers
Commune
The post office in Chavagnes-En-Paillers
Coat of arms
Location of Chavagnes-en-Paillers
Chavagnes-en-Paillers Show map of France Chavagnes-en-Paillers Show map of Pays de la Loire
Coordinates: 46°53′36″N 1°15′05″W / 46.8933°N 1.2514°W / 46.8933; -1.2514
Country	France
Region	Pays de la Loire
Department	Vendée
Arrondissement	La Roche-sur-Yon
Canton	Montaigu-Vendée
Intercommunality	Pays de Saint-Fulgent - Les Essarts
Government
• Mayor (2020–2026)	Éric Salaün[1]
Area 1	40.57 km2 (15.66 sq mi)
Population  (2021)[2]	3,568
• Density	88/km2 (230/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code	85065 /85250
Elevation	36–92 m (118–302 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Chavagnes en Paillers is known as one of the two villes saintes (holy towns) of the Vendée. (The other is Saint-Laurent-sur-Sèvre). It is home to the mother-houses of two religious congregations: the Sons of Mary Immaculate and the Ursulines of Jesus, both founded by the Roman Catholic priest Louis-Marie Baudouin in about 1802 in the wake of the French Revolution (1789) and the War in the Vendée (mainly 1793-1796).

Still present also in Chavagnes is the seminary Baudouin founded for the training of boys and men destined for the priesthood. It was the first junior seminary to be approved in France after the Revolution. It now continues as Chavagnes International College, an international Catholic boarding school for boys, teaching through the medium of English.

The word Chavagnes is thought to come from the dog Latin cabanas, meaning cabins. The inhabitants are known as Chavagnais.