La Roche-sur-Yon


La Roche-sur-Yon is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. It is the capital of the department. The demonym for its inhabitants is Yonnais.

History

The town expanded significantly after Napoleon I chose the site as the new préfecture of the Vendée on 25 May 1804, replacing Fontenay-le-Comte. At the time, most of La Roche had been eradicated in the Vendée Revolt ; the renamed Napoléonville was laid out and a fresh population of soldiers and civil servants was brought in. Napoléonville was designed to accommodate 15,000 people.
The town was called successively:
The river Yon flows southward through the commune and crosses the town.

Climate


Administration

The Communauté d'agglomération "La Roche-sur-Yon Agglomération" contains 15 communes:
La Roche-sur-Yon is the chief town of the Arrondissement of La Roche-sur-Yon, which covers 11 cantons, 92 communes, and has a population of 230,386.
La-Roche-sur-Yon is chief town of two cantons, Canton of La Roche-sur-Yon-1 and Canton of La Roche-sur-Yon-2.

Main sights

Transport

The Gare de La Roche-sur-Yon railway station offers connections to Nantes, Paris, Les Sables-d'Olonne, Bordeaux and several regional destinations. The A87 motorway connects La Roche-sur-Yon with Les Sables-d'Olonne and Angers, the A83 with Nantes and Niort.

Education

The commune has designated attendance zones for its primary schools.
Schools include:
In 2014 La Roche-sur-yon hosted the 2014 French championship of table tennis
La Roche-sur-Yon's Vendéspace hosted one of the first round ties of the 2014 Davis Cup tennis tournament over the weekend of 31 January - 2 February 2014. France hosted Australia as both teams competed for a place in the World Group quarterfinals.
In 2015 La Roche-sur-Yon, will host the 2015 FIRS Men's Roller Hockey World Cup, the first time that a World Cup of roller hockey is held in France.
In June 2015 La Roche-sur-Yon's Vendéspace will host the qualification tournament for the World Championships in Savate Combat

Twin towns – sister cities

La Roche-sur-Yon is twinned with: