The
Loire Valley () lies in the middle stretch of the river, extends for about and comprises an area of roughly . – and also as the "cradle of the French language". It is also noteworthy for its architectural heritage: in part for its historic towns such as
Amboise,
Angers,
Blois,
Chinon,
Nantes,
Orléans,
Saumur, and
Tours, but in particular for its castles, such as the
Château d'Amboise,
Château d'Angers,
Château de Chambord,
Château de Montsoreau,
Château d'Ussé,
Château de Villandry and
Chenonceau, and also for its many cultural monuments, which illustrate the ideals of the
Renaissance and the
Age of the Enlightenment on western European thought and design. On December 2, 2000,
UNESCO added the central part of the Loire valley, between
Bouchemaine in
Anjou and
Sully-sur-Loire in
Loiret, to its list of
World Heritage Sites. In choosing this area that includes the French
départements of Loiret,
Loir-et-Cher,
Indre-et-Loire, and
Maine-et-Loire, the committee said that the Loire Valley is: "an exceptional cultural landscape, of great beauty, historic cities and villages, great architectural monuments – the Châteaux – and lands that have been cultivated and shaped by centuries of interaction between local populations and their physical environment, in particular the Loire itself."
Architecture Architectural edifices were created in Loire valley from the 10th century onwards with the defensive fortress like structures called the "
keeps" or "
donjons" built between 987 and 1040 by Anjou
Count Foulques Nerra of
Anjou (the Falcon). However, one of the oldest such structures in France is the
Donjon de Foulques Nerra built in 944. This style was replaced by the religious architectural style in the 12th to 14th centuries when the impregnable château fortresses were built on top of rocky hills; one of the impressive fortresses of this type is the
Château d'Angers, which has 17 gruesome towers. This was followed by aesthetically built châteaux (to also function as residential units), which substituted the quadrangular layout of the keep. However, the exterior defensive structures, in the form of
portcullis and
moats surrounding the thick walls of the châteaux' forts were retained. There was further refinement in the design of the châteaux in the 15th century before the
Baroque style came into prominence with decorative and elegantly designed interiors and which became fashionable from the 16th to the end of the 18th century. Gardens, both ornamental fountains, footpaths flower beds and tended grass) and kitchen type (to grow vegetables), also accentuated the opulence of the châteaux. The
French Revolution (1789) brought a radical change for the worse in the scenarios for chateaus, as
monarchy ended in France.
Châteaux The
châteaux, numbering more than three hundred, represent a nation of builders starting with the necessary
castle fortifications in the 10th century to the splendour of those built half a millennium later. When the French kings began constructing their huge châteaux here, the nobility, not wanting or even daring to be far from the seat of power, followed suit. Their presence in the lush, fertile valley began attracting the very best landscape designers. Today, these privately owned châteaux serve as homes, a few open their doors to tourist visits, while others are operated as hotels or bed and breakfasts. Many have been taken over by a local government authority or the giant structures like those at
Chambord are owned and operated by the national government and are major tourist sites, attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. Some notable Châteaux on the Loire include
Beaufort-
Mareuil sur Cher –
Lavoûte-Polignac –
Bouthéon –
Montrond –
Bastie d'Urfé –
Château féodal des Cornes d'Urfé –
La Roche –
Château féodal de Saint-Maurice-sur-Loire –
Saint-Pierre-la-Noaille –
Chevenon –
Palais ducal de Nevers –
Saint-Brisson –
Gien –
La Bussière –
Pontchevron –
La Verrerie (near
Aubigny-sur-Nère) –
Sully-sur-Loire –
Châteauneuf-sur-Loire –
Boisgibault –
Meung-sur-Loire –
Menars –
Talcy –
Château de la Ferté –
Chambord –
Blois –
Villesavin –
Cheverny –
Beauregard –
Troussay –
Château de Chaumont –
Amboise –
Clos-Lucé –
Langeais –
Gizeux –
Les Réaux –
Montsoreau –
Montreuil-Bellay –
Saint-Loup-sur-Thouet –
Saumur –
Boumois –
Brissac –
Montgeoffroy –
Plessis-Bourré –
Château des Réaux File:Loire Indre Amboise1 tango7174.jpg|
Amboise on the banks of the Loire File:Langeais-Chateau.JPG|
Chateau de Langeais File:Loire Cher Blois1 tango7174.jpg|
Château de Blois interior façades in
Gothic,
Renaissance and
Classic styles (from right to left). File:Chateau Valencay 20050726.jpg|
Château de Valençay. File:Château de Montsoreau(Maine-et-Loire).jpg|
Château de Montsoreau Wine making and
Pouilly-Fumé, found in the Loire Valley. The
Loire Valley wine region includes the
French wine regions situated along the Loire from the
Muscadet region near the city of
Nantes on the Atlantic coast to the
region of
Sancerre and
Pouilly-Fumé just southeast of the city of
Orléans in north central France. In between are the regions of
Anjou,
Saumur,
Bourgueil,
Chinon, and
Vouvray. The
Loire Valley itself follows the river through the Loire province to the river's origins in the
Cévennes but the majority of the wine production takes place in the regions noted above. The Loire Valley has a long history of
winemaking dating back to the 1st century. In the
High Middle Ages, the wines of the Loire Valley were the most esteemed wines in England and France, even more prized than those from
Bordeaux.
Archaeological evidence suggest that the
Romans planted the first vineyards in the Loire Valley during their settlement of
Gaul in the 1st century AD. By the 5th century, the flourishing
viticulture of the area was noted in a publication by the poet
Sidonius Apollinaris. In his work
History of the Franks, Bishop
Gregory of Tours wrote of the frequent
plundering by the
Bretons of the area's wine stocks. By the 11th century the wines of Sancerre had a reputation across Europe for their high quality. Historically the wineries of the Loire Valley have been small, family owned operations that do a lot of estate bottling. The mid-1990s saw an increase in the number of
négociant and
co-operative to where now about half of Sancerre and almost 80% of Muscadet is bottled by a négociant or co-op. The Loire river has a significant effect on the
mesoclimate of the region, adding the necessary extra few degrees of temperature that allows grapes to grow when the areas to the north and south of the Loire Valley have shown to be unfavourable to viticulture. In addition to finding vineyards along the Loire, several of the river's
tributaries are also well planted—including the rivers
Allier,
Cher,
Indre,
Loir,
Sèvre Nantaise and
Vienne. Spread out across the Loire Valley are 87 appellation under the
AOC,
VDQS and
Vin de Pays systems. There are two generic designation that can be used across the whole of the Loire Valley. The
Crémant de Loire which refers to any sparkling wine made according to the
traditional method of
Champagne. The
Vin de Pays du Jardin de la France refers to any
varietally labelled wine, such as
Chardonnay, that is produced in the region outside of an AOC designation. Among these different wine styles, Loire wines tend to exhibit characteristic
fruitiness with fresh, crisp flavours-especially in their youth.
Art The Loire has inspired many poets and writers, including:
Charles d'Orléans,
François Rabelais, ,
Clément Marot,
Pierre de Ronsard,
Joachim du Bellay,
Jean de La Fontaine,
Charles Péguy,
Gaston Couté; and painters such as:
Raoul Dufy,
J. M. W. Turner,
Gustave Courbet,
Auguste Rodin,
Félix Edouard Vallotton,
Jacques Villon,
Jean-Max Albert, , , and
Jean Chabot. File:Turner Scene of the Loire.jpg|
Scène of the Loire, by
J. M. W. Turner. File:Courbet La source de la Loire.jpg|
La source de la Loire, by
Gustave Courbet. File:Portrait de la Loire.jpg|
Portrait of the Loire, by
Jean-Max Albert, 1988. Musée de la Loire, Cosne-sur-Loire. File:Jean-Jacques Delusse, vue des Rosiers, 1800.jpg|
Les Rosiers-sur-Loire by , 1800 File:JMW Turner Montsoreau.jpg|
The Loire at Montsoreau,
J. M. W. Turner, 1832,
Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art. ==See also==