Château de Blois interior façades in Gothic, Renaissance and Classic styles (from right to left).

[1], The Loire Valley, in particular, enjoys a pleasant temperate climate. [41] The Federation, a member of the IUCN since 1970, has been very important in the campaign to save the Loire river system from development.

In the 9th century, the Vikings began invading the west coast of France, using longships to navigate the Loire. [1], The geological formations in the Loire river basin can be grouped into two sets of formations, namely, the basement domain and the domain of sedimentary formations. Romorantin-Lanthenay calls itself the capital of the Sologne region and is an ideal base for visiting the surrounding countryside and vineyards. Shallow-draught gabares and other river craft continued to transport goods into the industrial era, including coal from Saint-Étienne loaded on to barges in Orléans. The discharge rate varies strongly along the river, with roughly 350 m3/s (12,000 cu ft/s) at Orléans and 900 m3/s (32,000 cu ft/s) at the mouth. The former bed of the Loire séquanaise is occupied by the Loing. [42], In 1986, the French government, the Loire-Brittany Water Agency and the EPALA settled an agreement on flood prevention and water [16] Her successful relief of the siege of Orléans, on the Loire, was the turning point of the war. La source de la Loire, by Gustave Courbet. The human history of the Loire river valley begins with the Middle Palaeolithic period of 90–40 kya (thousand years ago), followed by modern humans (about 30 kya), succeeded by the Neolithic period (6,000 to 4,500 BC), all of the recent Stone Age in Europe. [1], Although only one native fish species has become extinct in the Loire, namely the European sea sturgeon (Acipenser sturio) in the 1940s, the fish population is declining, mostly due to the decrease in the spawning areas. Vouvray is just a few miles up the Loire from Tours, but with an entirely different feeling. They used the Loire as a key trading route by 600 BC, using pack horses to link its trade, such as the metals of the Armorican Massif, with Phoenicia and Ancient Greece via Lyon on the Rhône. Another short stretch much further upstream at Decize is also navigable, where a river level crossing from the Canal latéral à la Loire connects to the Canal du Nivernais.

", 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). Gallic rule ended in the valley in 56 BC when Julius Caesar conquered the adjacent provinces for Rome. 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. The Loire flows roughly northward through Roanne and Nevers to Orléans and thereafter westward through Tours to Nantes, where it forms an estuary. In 2002, the WWF aided a second Loire Nature project and expanded its scope to the entire basin, addressing some 4,500 hectares (11,000 acres) of land under a budget of US$18 million, mainly funded by government and public bodies, such as the Établissement Publique Loire (EPL), a public institution which had formerly advocated large-scale dam projects on the river.[43]. For other uses, see, "Loira" redirects here. The Villerest dam, built in 1985 a few kilometres (a few miles) south of Roanne,[34] has played a key-role in preventing recent flooding. A mix of the charming, modern, and tried and true. [41] The reason for this is its sheer length and possibility of extensive navigation, which severely limits the scope of river conservation. Amboise is a bustling town on the river Loire with its ancient centre and royal castle. The Middle Loire is dominated by more Chenin blanc and Cabernet franc wines found in the regions around Touraine, Saumur, Chinon and Vouvray. In the marshy lands, ash, alder and willows are grown with duckweed providing the needed natural fertilizing effect. The Loire flows through the following départements and towns: The Loire Valley in the Loire river basin, is a 300 km (190 mi) stretch in the western reach of the river starting with Orléans and terminating at Nantes, 56 km (35 mi) short of the Loire estuary and the Atlantic Ocean. [44] The final dam was decommissioned by Électricité de France at a cost of 7 million francs in 1998. It is a pretty town on the banks of the river Vienne and the castle dominates on a cliff high above the town. [1], The Loire hosts about 64% of nesting bird species of France, that is 164 species, of which 54 are water birds, 44 species are common for managed forests, 41 to natural forests, 13 to open and 12 to rocky areas. These works, with groynes and submersible embankments, survive and contribute to the limited navigability under present-day conditions. In addition to finding vineyards along the Loire, several of the river's tributaries are also well planted—including the Allier, Cher, Indre, Loir, Sèvre Nantaise and Vienne Rivers. The second-longest tributary, the 372 km (231 mi) Vienne, joins the Loire at Candes-Saint-Martin at 47°12′45″N 0°4′31″E / 47.21250°N 0.07528°E / 47.21250; 0.07528, followed by the 367.5 km (228.4 mi) Cher, which joins the Loire near Cinq-Mars-la-Pile at 47°20′33″N 0°28′49″E / 47.34250°N 0.48028°E / 47.34250; 0.48028 and the 287 km (178 mi) Indre, which joins the Loire near Néman at 47°14′2″N 0°11′0″E / 47.23389°N 0.18333°E / 47.23389; 0.18333. The Canal de Roanne à Digoin was also opened in 1838. Wine Tours & Tastings , Historical & Heritage Tours. The Lower Loire that leads to the mouth of the river's entrance to the Atlantic goes through the Muscadet region which is dominated by wines of the Melon de Bourgogne grape. In 1700 the port of Nantes numbered more inland waterway craft than any other port in France, testifying to the historic importance of navigation on France’s longest river. Centre-Val de Loire is one of the 18 administrative regions of France. [35] A dam across the Loire at Saint-Léger-des-Vignes provides navigable conditions to cross from the Canal du Nivernais to the Canal latéral à la Loire. It is at the heart of Cabernet Franc country and part of the St. Maure goats cheese area. [1] In the intermediate section, the alluvial plain broadens and the river meanders and forks into multiple channels. The tributaries host brown trout (Salmo trutta), European bullhead (Cottus gobio), European brook lamprey (Lampetra planeri), zander (Sander lucioperca), nase (Chondrostoma nasus and C. toxostoma) and wels catfish (Siluris glanis). [18][19], In the 1530s, the Reformation ideas reached the Loire valley, with some people becoming Protestant. As enthusiasts ourselves, we make a point of seeking out the best. 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.

[12] By around 5000 to 4000 BC, they began clearing forests along the river edges and cultivating the lands and rearing livestock. Heterotrophic bacteria are represented by cocci (49%), rods (35%), colonies (12%) and filaments (4%) with a total density of up to 1.4×1010 cells per litre. Several départements of France were named after the Loire. In 1477, the first printing press in France was established in Angers, and around this time the Chateau de Langeais and Chateau de Montsoreau were built.

With a length of 1,006 kilometres (625 mi), it drains an area of 117,054 km (45,195 sq mi), or more than a fifth of France's land area, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône. The Loire Valley (French: Vallée de la Loire) lies in the middle stretch of the river, extends for about 280 km (170 mi) and comprises an area of roughly 800 km2 (310 sq mi). It rises in the southeastern quarter of the French Massif Central in the Cévennes range (in the department of Ardèche) at 1,350 m (4,430 ft) near Mont Gerbier de Jonc; it flows north through Nevers to Orléans, then west through Tours and Nantes until it reaches the Bay of Biscay (Atlantic Ocean) at Saint-Nazaire. The late Gothic Blois Cathedral towers over its cobbled city center. [12] Neanderthal man used stone tools to fashion boats out of tree trunks and navigated the river. 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. [50], The Loire Valley has a high density of vine plantings with an average of 4,000–5,000 vines per hectare (1,600–2,000 per acre). 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. Whereas the total biomass is low in the upper reaches, the biodiversity is high, with more than 250 taxa at Orléans.

Its abbey was constructed in the year 926. Loire Valley cities towns and villages A visit to the cities, towns and villages of the Loire Valley is a journey back in time as they retain much of the charm, character and authenticity that has attracted royal patronage over the centuries. [43] As a result, the WWF and other NGOs established the Loire Vivante (Living Loire) network in 1988 to oppose this and arranged an initial meeting with the French Minister of the Environment.

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