History of the Castles of the Loire Valley and its surroundings

The expression Castles of the Loire designates a set of castles located along the Loire Valley, in the center of France and established on the Loiret, Loir-et-Cher, Indre-et-Loire and Maine-et-Loire regions. Castles exist there from the medieval period. But it was with the triumph of Francis I that the region began to change, the latter becoming a crossroads for the exchange of goods. The Loire served the "Renaissance" ambitions of the French royal authorities. Here is a list of the castles showing these ambitions: Amboise, Angers, Azay-le-Rideau de Blois, Chambord, Château des Ducs, Bretagne, Chenonceau, Langeais, Saumur, Sully-sur-Loire, Villandry, Loches.

These monuments testify to the greatness of the sovereigns who came to settle here during the exercise of their functions. Thus, many castles of the Loire result from conflicts around the possession of the territory during the eleventh century. Nevertheless, most of the monuments were erected during the Renaissance. The expression ‘Château de Loire’ is used in tourism to describe this region where dozens of castles are arranged next to vineyards. The banks of the Loire are occupied since the Paleolithic, people settling on the banks of the Loire and the numerous rivers of the region. For 6,000 years, the hunter-gatherers abandon the nomadic life and settle down in order to arrive at the territorial organization of the Gallic peoples.

The sites of all the important cities were built before the Roman occupation. Julius Caesar found very little resistance when he arrived in this region. Orleans, Tours, Angers have built a forum, a theater and thermal baths. The Gallo-Roman period saw an important development of production and trade. The region is becoming more and more important thanks to the creation of canals. In the 19th century, the appearance of the railway introduced radical changes in the Loire landscape, eliminating navigation on the river, as well as the activity of the ports of the Loire. In the year 2000, the Loire Valley became the largest site in France in relation to the UNESCO World Heritage in terms of living cultural landscapes.