CHOLET, a town of western France, capital of an arron dissement in the department of Maine-et-Loire, 33 m. E.S.E. of Nantes. Pop. (1931) 19,541. Cholet stands on high ground on the right bank of the Maine, which is crossed by a 15th cen tury bridge. Megalithic monuments are numerous in the neigh bourhood. The town owes the rise of its prosperity to the settle ment of weavers there by Edouard Colbert, count of Maulevrier, a brother of the great Colbert. It suffered severely in the War of La Vendee of 1793. A public garden occupies the site of the old castle. The town possesses a sub-prefecture, a tribunal of first instance, a chamber of commerce and a board of trade arbitrators. There are granite quarries in the vicinity. The chief industries are the manufacture of linen and of preserved foods. Cholet is an important centre for the sale of fat cattle, sheep and pigs, for which Paris is the chief market.