Cholet (probably from Latin cauletum, "cabbage") is a town in western France, capital of an arrondissement in the Maine-et-Loire département, Pays-de-la-Loire région, 41 miles south-east of Nantes. Population (1999): 54,204. In 1906, the population was 16,554.

A public garden occupies the site of the old castle; the public buildings and churches, for example the Church of the Sacred Heart (1939), are modern.
Megalithic monuments are numerous in the neighborhood.
A textile museum (Musée du Textile, rue du Docteur-Roux, Tel 02 41 75 25 40) exists to conserve the traditional machines used to create the famous handkerchiefs made in this town, as well as the techniques used to make them and the oral and local history associated with the industry.