Montsoreau

Montsoreau
Commune
Top to bottom, left to right: Panoramic view of the village from the Loire; Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art; Typical street of Monstoreau listed among the most beautiful villages of France; Sunset in Montsoreau from the Château de Montsoreau

Coat of arms
Montsoreau
Location within Pays de la Loire region
Montsoreau
Coordinates: 47°13′02″N 0°03′28″E / 47.2172°N 0.0578°E / 47.2172; 0.0578Coordinates: 47°13′02″N 0°03′28″E / 47.2172°N 0.0578°E / 47.2172; 0.0578
Country France
Region Pays de la Loire
Department Maine-et-Loire
Arrondissement Saumur
Canton Saumur-Sud
Intercommunality CA Saumur Val de Loire
Government
 • Mayor Gérard Persin
Area1 5.19 km2 (2.00 sq mi)
Population (1999)2 544
 • Density 100/km2 (270/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
 • Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code 49219 /49730
Elevation 27–88 m (89–289 ft)
(avg. 36 m or 118 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.
Montsoreau Bridge

Montsoreau is a commune of the Loire Valley in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France on the Loire, 160 km (99 mi) from the Atlantic coast and 250 km (160 mi) from Paris. The village is listed among the most beautiful villages of France and part of the Loire Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site.

In 2015, Christian Gillet, president of the Maine-et-Loire department associated with the french contemporary art collector Philippe Méaille signed an agreement to turn the Château de Montsoreau into a museum of international contemporary art for the next 25 years.[1][2][3] The Château de Montsoreau became home for Méaille extraordinary collection of radical conceptualists Art & Language and has been renamed Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art.[4][5][6][7]

Montsoreau was identified under the name Restis (rope or fish net) at the end of classical antiquity as a port on the Loire at the confluence of the Loire and the Vienne. It has taken its name Montsoreau (Mount Soreau) from a rocky promontory situated in the riverbed of the Loire and surrounded by water.[8] There has been three major buildings on this promontory, a Gallo-Roman temple or administrative building, a fortified castle, and a Renaissance palace.[9][10]

Montsoreau was, until the seventeenth century, a center of jurisdiction and the seigneury of Montsoreau stretched from the Loire river to Seuilly-l'Abbaye and Coudray castle in the south. After the French Revolution, the exploitation of a building stone, the Tuffeau stone, brutally passed its population of 600 inhabitants to more than 1000, maintained during the first half of the nineteenth century.[11]This stone, easy to work, was gradually exhausted, and the population decreased to stabilize again around 600 people. Montsoreau then, concentrated its activities on agriculture, wine and river trade until the end of nineteenth century. During the Twentieth century, Montsoreau has seen river trade replaced by terrestrial trade and the raise of a touristic economy.

Ethymology

The name Mount Soreau (Castrum Monte Sorello, Mons Sorello, Mountsorrell, Monte-Sorel, Monsorel, Munsorel, Muntesorel or Montsorel),[12] appears in its Latin form, for the first time, in 1086 in a cartulary.[13] Mons or Monte (mount) refers to the rocky promontory, located in the river bed of the Loire, and on which was built the fortress of Montsoreau. No interpretation has been given of the name Sorello, which is found in several Latinized forms: Sorello, Sorel, Sorelli.

Its first recorded name at the end of the Roman period was the Domaine de Rest or Restis, Restis (rope or fish net) referring to its port.

Variations of the name

  • Montsoreau
  • Monsoreau

History

Prehistory and Antiquity

Traces of first settlements and the oldest remains are set back from the river, on the plateau in high areas. The main witness of this occupation is the dolmen of the Pierrelée, which probably dates from the 3rd millennium BC and is made up of six imposing slabs of hard sandstone coming from deposits in the neighborhood. Montsoreau is located on the borders of the territories of the Gallic tribes of Pictones, Turones and Andecavi. Coins, shards and fragments of Gallo-Roman tiles, were found in Montsoreau, especially on the edge of the plateau, above the town. The shaft of a fluted column, discovered during excavations of the castle, could attest to the presence of a notable public building on the top of the rock of Montsoreau.[14]

Middle Ages

The first texts mentioning the domain of Restis dates back to the sixth century.[15] An act of Charles the Bald indicates the presence, in 850, of houses, a fishery and a port in Rest. In the middle of the tenth century, according to the hagiographic narratives, it is made mention of caves in which the monk Absalon, coming from Tournus, was first considering to shelter the relics of Saint-Florent before bringing them further downstream and settle in Saumur.[16] In 990 the Count of Blois Odo I built a fortress on the rock of Montsoreau and transformed the village into a stronghold. The Count of Anjou, Fulk Nerra, took the fortress in 1001 and incorporated it to Anjou.[17] Fulk who was one of the first great builders of medieval castles modified it and the fortress remainded under the control of Anjou, never taken, during more than 150 years. In 1101, during the installation of the Fontevraud community, the abbey of Fontevraud depended on Gautier I of Montsoreau, direct vassal of the count of Anjou. Gautier's mother-in-law, Hersende de Champagne, will be the first grand-prioress during the life of Robert d'Arbrissel.[18] In 1156, Guillaume IV de Montsoreau sided with Geoffroy Plantagenet against his brother Henry II Plantagenet, future king of England and husband of Eleanor of Aquitaine. The latter besieged the castrum and took it at the end of August 1156 despite the care taken at its fortification.[19] This was the one and only storming of the medieval fortress of Montsoreau between Fulk and Jean II de Chambes in 1450.[20]

Renaissance

The history of the small city of Montsoreau is highly intricated with the History of the Renaissance in Europe and more specifically with the history of the Renaissance in France. At the end of the Hundred Years War, Charles vii and Louis xi installed royal power in Chinon, and encouraged or ordered their lords to build new buildings or redevelop old fortresses. Thus began the construction of buildings in a new style in France, giving birth to Renaissance architecture, with châteaux that will be called later "the Châteaux of the Loire Valley".[21] In 1450, Jean II de Chambes, First councelor of Charles VII and ambassador in Venice, bought the fortress of Fulk III to his brother in law and destroyed it in order to build a residential palace on the top of the rock of Montsoreau (the mount Soreau).[22][23] In an unprecedented move, he built the Château de Montsoreau in a residential style following Italian architecture of the time which makes it the first Renaissance building in France. The Château de Montsoreau was directly on the river bank and still today, it remains the only château of the Loire Valley to have been built in the river bed of the Loire.[24]

Saint-Bartolomew's Day Massacre

Jean IV de Chambes inherited the Castle of Montsoreau and saw his lands erected in barony in 1560.[25] Montsoreau is looted by Protestants in 1568; the collegiate Sainte Croix and the fortifications of the city are destroyed. Four years later, on August 26, 1572, Puygaillard sent Jean IV de Chambes the order to eliminate the Huguenots from Saumur, then to do the same in Angers.[26] Four days after Saint Bartholomew's Day Massacre (August 24, 1572), he arrived in Saumur and killed François Bourneau, lieutenant-general of the city. De Chambes fought at the siege of Lusignan and the capture of Fontenay-le-Comte, he has the most cruel reputation. Ruthless, Jean de Chambes was reigning terror in the region. The Reformed Church of Saumur was almost eliminated.[27] He then went to Angers, closed the doors of the fortifications and began the gathering of Huguenot personalities he killed himself.[28] Warned of the abuses and violence of his governor, Charles IX finally sent him a call to order on September 14, 1572. In 1573, his Barony was raised to the rank of County.[29][30]

French Revolution and industrialization

On July 14, 1789, during the storming of the Bastille, Yves Marie du Bouchet de Sourches was Count of Montsoreau and owner of the château de Montsoreau. On November 11, 1789, the National constituent assembly decreed that "there will be one municipality in every city, town, parish or community of countryside".[31] Although the French revolution had an important impact on him as the Count of Montsoreau, this impact was far more limited on his property of the château de Montsoreau which remained in his hands until it sold in 1804.[32] The revolution gave way to a period of prosperity for the small town, which was famous since the seventeenth century for the quality of its tuffeau, wines and fruits.[33] The industrialization of stone quarrying was the direct consequence of the extraordinary urban growth, consuming volumes unknown until then. It was made possible, as well as facilitated, by the river, which allowed the intensification of trade and river transport. The tuffeau stone was exported regionally, to cities all along the banks of rivers, Angers, Rennes, Nantes and Le Mans, but also surprisingly as far as the Caribbean. The ship mills were replaced by windmills as the population of the small city had almost doubled.[34] The industrialization of the means of production in Montsoreau and at the same time the transformation of the abbey of Fontevraud in a prison, on order of Napoleon, transformed the physionomy of the city.[35] At first, the construction of the road from Chinon to Saumur around 1830, which allowed the village to gain land on the Loire, and in a second time in 1896, with the construction of the tram line Saumur-Montsoreau-Fontevraud.[36]

World War II: The Cadets of Saumur

In Montsoreau, Saumur and Gennes, in June 1940, teenage students of the school of cavalry, still under training and with derisory weapons (including an artillery gun from the school museum), heroically engaged an entire German panzer division for nearly three days. And in doing so became a legend in France. - For Honour Alone, Roy Macnab, January 1989.[37]

The battle of Saumur, is considered as the first act of resistance of World War II in France, the next days following the order of Maréchal Petain to cease fire on june 17, 1940.[38][39] Following the German offensive of May 1940, the enemy progressing towards the Seine, the General Weygand, ordered to defend all the rivers likely to block the South the route of the invasion. Thus the principle of the Defense of the Loire was decided. The National School of Cavalry, commanded by Colonel Michon, was given the area from the confluence of the Vienne and Loire rivers at Montsoreau, to Gennes, a front of 40km . Although Marshal Petain gave the order to cease the fighting on june 17, Colonel Michon considered that the prestige and the honor of the National School of Cavalry obliged him, despite this order, to fight in Saumur and avoid ( even with weak means), germans to cross the Loire.[40] 790 Vacant Aspirants of the Cavalry Reserve, trained in Saumur since May 1940 were deployed in 27 brigades on various strategic points.[41] The night of june 18, their first action of war was to explode the four strategic bridges on the Loire river, one in Montsoreau, two in Saumur and one in Gennes. For three days, about 2,000 men held three German Panzer divisions, with 40,000 men, in failure, with training material, without air support, without hope, but not without panache.[42][43] To these inexperienced young fighters whom they themselves called "Kadetten" (the Cadets), the German horsemen, soldiers of tradition, did not take them prisoner and released them paying tribute to their courage.[44] This name remained thereafter.[45]

Geography

Location

Montsoreau is at the center of the Loire Valley, in north-western France, 160 km (99 mi) from the Atlantic Ocean, and approximately 12 km (7.5 mi) from Saumur, Chinon and Bourgueil.[46] It is situated in southeastern Maine-et-Loire department, approximately halfway between Paris and Bordeaux.[47] The village is at the crossroad of the three main administrative regions of, Pays de la Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, and Nouvelle Aquitaine, and of the three departments of, Maine-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire, and Vienne.

Montsoreau is part of the Metropolitan Area of Saumur Val de Loire and share borders with municipalities both in the Maine-et-Loire and Indre-et-Loire departments. These municipalities are: Candes-Saint-Martin, Chouzé-sur-Loire, Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, and Turquant.

2 mile Montsoreau Skyline Panorama from Quai Alexandre Dumas to Than Island, taken in October 2018 from Than Island, Loire Valley.
  1. Jehanne of Arc street
  2. Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art
  3. quai of the Loire River
  4. Vieux-port of Montsoreau
  5. Montsoreau Bridge
  6. Than Island

Hydrology

The Loire River, nicknamed the last wild river in Europe, is the longest river in France (1006 km).[48] It is one of the main touristic attraction of Montsoreau, it reaches here, at the confluence of Vienne River and Loire River, its full width.[49] Downstream, it has already been inflated waters of the Indre River and Cher River.[50] The river bed has considerably changed over centuries, and it worth noticing that the confluence with the Vienne River was in Saumur before the great flood of January 1496.[51]

Climate

The climate of Montsoreau, is caracterized by the high sunshine of the Loire Valley, a favorable region for wine and cultivation of fruits. In addition to this, there are important oceanic influences, and the proximity of the Loire, giving the village a climate locally called "sweet". Summer is hot and dry and winter is mild and wet. Precipitation is low to medium during inter-season. The wind is characteristic of the Loire corridor, medium and relatively constant.

Climate data for Montsoreau
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °C (°F) 16.9
(62.4)		 20.8
(69.4)		 23.7
(74.7)		 29.2
(84.6)		 31.8
(89.2)		 36.7
(98.1)		 37.5
(99.5)		 39.8
(103.6)		 34.5
(94.1)		 29.0
(84.2)		 22.3
(72.1)		 18.5
(65.3)		 39.8
(103.6)
Average high °C (°F) 11.1
(52)		 12.1
(53.8)		 15.1
(59.2)		 17.4
(63.3)		 22.5
(72.5)		 27
(81)		 26.4
(79.5)		 27.2
(81)		 21.6
(70.9)		 19.9
(67.8)		 12.7
(54.9)		 9.2
(48.6)		 19.2
(66.6)
Daily mean °C (°F) 6.2
(43.2)		 8.2
(46.8)		 10.8
(51.4)		 10.9
(51.6)		 16.5
(61.7)		 20.6
(69.1)		 20.8
(69.4)		 21.4
(70.5)		 16.5
(61.7)		 15
(59)		 8.5
(47.3)		 5.9
(42.6)		 14.1
(57.4)
Average low °C (°F) 8.8
(47.8)		 4
(39)		 6.5
(43.7)		 4.5
(40.1)		 10.6
(51.1)		 14.2
(57.6)		 15.3
(59.5)		 15.3
(59.5)		 11.2
(52.2)		 10.2
(50.4)		 4.4
(39.9)		 2.6
(36.7)		 9.0
(48.2)
Average precipitation mm (inches) 66
(2.6)		 35
(1.38)		 50
(1.97)		 3.5
(0.138)		 45
(1.77)		 51
(2.01)		 27
(1.06)		 15.5
(0.61)		 34
(1.34)		 11.5
(0.453)		 29
(1.14)		 40
(1.57)		 411
(16.18)
Average snowy days 1.7 1.9 1.4 0.2 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.4 1.3 7.0
Average relative humidity (%) 88 84 80 77 77 75 74 76 80 86 89 89 81.3
Mean monthly sunshine hours 69.9 90.3 144.2 178.5 205.6 228 239.4 236.4 184.7 120.6 67.7 59.2 1,824.5
Source #1: Climatologie mensuelle à la station de Montreuil-Bellay.[52]
Source #2: Infoclimat.fr (humidity, snowy days 1961–1990)[53]

Protected areas

Montsoreau has a remarkable and listed heritage with historical, urban, natural and architectural dimensions. The small city is part of the Loire Valley UNESCO World Heritage Site and listed among the most beautiful villages of France.[54][55][56] Montsoreau has some architecturally noteworthy buildings in a very wide range of style over a long period of time. From underground living to the château de Montsoreau one of the most famous châteaux of the Loire Valley and the only one entirely dedicated to International Contemporary art.[57][58][59] Although the construction of the Montsoreau bridge at the beginning of the 20th century completely altered the link the village had with the river, it is nonetheless a technical challenge and a major architectural project that has modernized Montsoreau. It remains nowadays one of the longest bridges in France.

Natural areas

Sensitive natural area of the Loire Valley

The ENS Loire Valley (Espace Naturel Sensible) encompasses the Loire and its right bank, as well as part of the village of Monsoreau and vineyards of the left bank.[60] This ENS is characterized by the presence of many species and habitats of species of interest and/or protected at national or regional level. It is represented by the banks, the islands, the alluvial woods and the bed of the Loire river. It is threatened by the increase in the area of poplar plantations and crops, the lowering of the riverbed, the abandonment of the hydraulic annexes and the invasive species.[61][62]

Natura 2000 area of the Loire Valley from Montsoreau to Ponts-de-Cé

The Natura 2000 Loire Valley includes two areas at Montsoreau,[63] one dedicated to the Loire river itself, and another one dedicated to the valley:

  • The ZSC (Special Conservation Area) Loire Valley Ponts-de-Cé Montsoreau (FR 5200629) site includes the wild part of the Loire river and part of its valley alluvial. The major interest of the site resides in the peripheral areas of the river, including the burrows and other aquatic environments rich in hydrophilic vegetation, mesophilic grasslands with hygrophilous, riparian woodland and ash Grove oxyphile.
  • The ZPS (Special Protection Area) Loire Valley Ponts-de-Cé Loire Valley (FR 5212003): the site encompasses the alluvial valley of the Loire and its main annexes (valleys, marshes, hillsides and cliffs). The mosaic of environments that are very favorable to birds (strikes, natural meadows, hedgerows, marsh and aquatic environments, wooded lawns ...) is characterized by the geographical and climatic context which induces strong and irregular variations of flow, from the low water level pronounced to very large floods.[64][65]
Loire-Anjou-Touraine Regional Natural Park

The headquarters of the Loire-Anjou-Touraine Regional Natural Park is located in Montsoreau.[66] It was created in 1996 and brings together 141 municipalities located in the Center region and in the Pays-de-la-Loire region.[67] The missions of the Park are the protection and management of the natural and cultural heritage, development of the territory, economic and social development, reception, education and training, and experimentation and research.[68]

Architectural Heritage

UNESCO

Montsoreau and the Château de Montsoreau are part of the UNESCO listed World Heritage Site of the Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes.[69][70][71] It has been listed under three criterions:

Criterion (i): The Loire Valley is noteworthy for the quality of its architectural heritage, in its historic towns such as Blois, Chinon, Orléans, Saumur, and Tours, but in particular in its world-famous castles, such as the Château de Chambord.

Criterion (ii): The Loire Valley is an outstanding cultural landscape along a major river which bears witness to an interchange of human values and to a harmonious development of interactions between human beings and their environment over two millennia.

Criterion (iv): The landscape of the Loire Valley, and more particularly its many cultural monuments, illustrate to an exceptional degree the ideals of the Renaissance and the Age of the Enlightenment on western European thought and design. - UNESCO.[72]

Monuments Historiques

Monument Historique is a classification given to some National Heritage Sites in France. This classification is also a protection, which is of two levels, a Monument Historique can be Classified or Inscribed, Classified means the building is of National importance and Inscribed means it is of Regional importance. In Montsoreau, seven buildings are Inscribed, including the church. The Château is the only Classified building. There is a protected area of 500m perimeter all around a monument historique, in this area new buildings and modifications of the old building must be authorized by the Architect of the Buildings of France.[73][74]

The seven listed buildings are:

  • La Pierrelée: The Pierrelée dolmen is a prehistoric megalithic construction, consisting of blocks of stone partly covered by a tumulus. Its use is uncertain, it could have been a burial place, but also a dwelling.
  • House fifteenth century (Quai de la Loire): Inscribed in 1952, the staircase tower and the north facade have been listed.
  • House seventeenth century (Quai de la Loire): Inscribed in 1952, the exterior staircase and the south facade have been listed.
  • House sixteenth century (Rue Joan of Arc): Inscribed in 1926, the fireplace of the sixteeth century has been listed.
  • Windmill of the Trench: Inscribed in 1978, is a polygonal eighteeth century windmill.

Urban Areas

Petites Cités de Caractère

Montsoreau is listed Petite cité de caractère de France (Small cities of character), it is a distinction given to villages or towns of less than 6,000 inhabitants, whose agglomeration must be protected by historical monuments and have a structure dense enough to give it the appearance of a city, hold an architectural heritage of quality and homogeneity, and exercise or have exercised urban functions of centrality or have a concentration of buildings resulting from an activity present or passed strong identity.[75][76] The municipality must have a multi-year program for the rehabilitation and enhancement of heritage.[77]

The Most Beautiful Villages of France

The most beautiful villages of France is an association, which groups 154 villages considered as the most beautiful among the 32,000 villages of France.[78][79][80] A selection committee studies the applications for membership submitted by the mayors of the municipalities concerned. The village must have less than 2000 inhabitants, have at least two historic monuments, and have a policy of preservation of the landscape which must be materialized in urban planning documents.[81] Since July 2012, the association is part of the association of the most beautiful villages of the World.[82]

Demographics

Chart of population development in Montsoreau[83][84][85]

The official figures of the population of montsoreau are 449 inhabitants according to the INSEE, the city thus losing 1.8% of its population between 2010 and 2015. The demography of Montsoreau depends a lot on the activity of the town, second homes and retirees. The town economy being centered on tourism, and agriculture, the number of its inhabitants is limited by the geographical constraints, the density of its habitat, and the fact that one part of the land of the city is devoted to the cultivation of vines, and the agricultural facilities of winemakers (warehouses, winery, wine cellars).[86] However, the real estate pressure is relatively important in Montsoreau, it results from the high levels of protection of urban planning rules due to the different territorial classifications (UNESCO, National, Regional and Departmental), and leads naturally to an increase of the real estate prices.[87][88]

Economy

Montsoreau's economy is divided between tourism, agriculture, and commerce. It is also worth noting the presence in the small city of the headquarters of a public administration, the Regional Natural Park Loire-Anjou-Touraine, which is the largest employer of Montsoreau. With a museum of contemporary art, 14 restaurants, a campsite and two hotels, tourism is the largest employer of the municipality and helps the development of commercial jobs.

City economic overview

Quickfacts

Montsoreau, Nantes, Angers, Lyon, Marseille and Paris compared to France 
2015 Census[89] Montsoreau Nantes Angers Lyon Marseille Paris France
Total population 2015439303,382151,520513,275861,6352,206,48866,190,280
Population change, 2010 to 2015-1.8%+1.3%+0.5%+1.2%+0.3%-0.3%+0.5%
Population density (people/sqmi)219.112,053.39,188.310,722.39,274.520,934.4270,9
Median household income (2015)€19,846€21,263€19,194€22,501€18,131€26,431€20,566
Unemployment rate12.7%17.0%20.7%13.9%18.5%12.2%14.2%
Primary residence rate60.5%90.2%90.2%87.8%89.5%83.6%82.5%
Second home rate22.7%3.5%2.2%3.8%2.9%8.2%9.5%
Enterprises (units)7133,94313,06473,76788,059546,3206,561,692
Business density (business/1000 people)161.7111.986.2143.7102.2247.699.1

Business density

Montsoreau is economically linked to tourism, and geographically limited in its development, there is a proliferation of small businesses, which create a very favorable environment for the development of these companies. The Business density, is a figure that measures the economic environment, and is, particularly in France, linked to the number of small businesses present in a territory. The higher this figure is, the better the environment is for business. Montsoreau is well above the French average with a density almost twice the French average business density, ahead of almost all the largest French cities except Paris.[90]

Tourism

Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art courtyard during the Anjou Vélo Vintage festival.

The identity of the village is borne by the château of Montsoreau, which gave its name to the village. The installation of a museum of contemporary art in this castle, the first Renaissance palace in France, combining "radical Renaissance architecture with a dramatic presence in the natural landscape" according to Philippe Méaille, has further strengthened the atypical identity of Montsoreau.[91] Tourism in Montsoreau drains a large number of small businesses, linked to catering and tourist reception.[92] The traditional hotel industry is represented by traditional hotels and an outdoor camping offer. However, in recent years, a multiplicity of rental accomodations offers through websites such as Airbnb has developed in Montsoreau and surrounding cities.[93] It allows the village to adapt during the organization of major events gathering a large crowd like Montsoreau Flea Market, Fireworks display on 14 july or Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art events.[94][95]

Wine and agriculture

Montsoreau is in the heart of the Loire valley wine region which stretches, from Nantes to Orleans; from Sancerre and Pouilly-Fumé to the vineyards of Muscadet. While the region is mainly dedicated to white wines production, Montsoreau is part of the appellation Coteaux de Saumur and surrounded by five appélation d'origine controlée, Chinon, Saumur-Champigny, Saint-Nicolas de Bourgueil, Bourgueil, Anjou and Touraine, which are mainly producing red wines and crémant sparkling wines.

Enotourism and Anjou Vélo Vintage Festival

Enotourism or Oenotourism is a relatively new, fully growing, tourism in Montsoreau. From the beginning of the 2010s, the Grand Saumurois, which includes Montsoreau, began to build offers of sports tourism combining hiking, cycling and wine tastings,[96] and more specifically a winemaker from Montsoreau (Denis Rétiveau) became also a Loire sailor to combine wine tastings and sailing.[97][98] At the same time, a vintage festival, Anjou Vélo Vintage, of bike rides disguised throughout the territory and wine tasting is an immediate success. Its 2018 edition attracted more than 50,000 participants.[99][100]

Culture and contemporary life

J.M.W. Turner, Rietz near Saumur 1826, engraved by Brandard, Château de Montsoreau-Museum of Contemporary Art. Showing a sunset on the Loire river with the vieux-port of Montsoreau, the new road and the château.

Arts

Montsoreau is one of the few cities in France to have experienced the Renaissance as early as 1450 through architecture with the construction of its château at first, and then of civilian buildings. These buildings are still visible in the city. In the mid fifteenth century, as the kings of France are settling their power in Chinon and then Langeais and Tours, many artists such as Pierre de Ronsard, François Rabelais and Jean Fouquet, among the most famous, establish at that time their residence in the heart of what will be called later the Loire Valley and the Châteaux de la Loire. François Rabelais, who sees the castle of Montsoreau as it is today, quotes Montsoreau several times in his masterpiece telling the life of Gargantua and Pantagruel. But it is really only with romantic artists that Montsoreau becomes famous internationaly. First, J. M. W. Turner during his trip in the Loire Valley immortalize the confluence of the Vienne and Loire with the Castle and the village (The Port of Rest, watercolor on paper, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford which has been engraved by R. Brandard in 1832),[101][102] followed by Auguste Rodin and Alexandre Dumas. Alexandre Dumas' Dame de Monsoreau, part of a trilogy, is one of his most famous novel translated in more than six languages and distributed worldwide.[103] This novel has been adapted three times for cinema, as early as 1909 by Mario Caserini, three times for television in the form of a series, and a comics book series. One opera has also been written and played, and a variety of roses named after La Dame de Montsoreau has been hybridized by Christopher H. Warner in 2000.[104][105][106][107]

Administration and governance

Montsoreau is a commune of the Loire Valley in the Maine-et-Loire département, Pays de la Loire région. The commune is part of the agglomeration community Saumur Loire Valley (in french: communauté d'agglomération Saumur Val de Loire) which is gathering 47 communes and 100,000 inhabitants.

The city is administered by a mayor and 10 councillors, elected every six years. The current mayor of Montsoreau is Gerard Persin, who was elected on 25 March 2014.[108][109] The current president of Saumur Val de Loire is Jean-Michel Marchand, Who was elected by the agglomeration councillors on 12 January 2017.[110]

Saumur Val de Loire administers urban planning, transport, public areas, waste disposal, energy, water, housing, higher education, economic development, employment and European topics,[111][112] and Montsoreau city council administers security, primary and secondary education, early childhood, social aid, culture, sport and health. These mandates have been stated by the law NOTRE (Loi portant Nouvelle Organisation Territoriale de la République).[113]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Ettore Sottsass ou la liberté guidant l'artiste". Le Monde.fr (in French). Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  2. ↑ "Chateau de Montsoreau - FIAC". www.fiac.com (in French). 2017-09-23. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  3. ↑ "chateau-de-montsoreau-copie". www.artpress.com (in French). Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  4. ↑ "Largest Art & Language Collection Finds Home - artnet News". artnet News. 2015-06-23. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
  5. ↑ "Everybody Talks About Collecting with Their Eyes, Not Their Ears; Few Do It Like Philippe Meaille". Art Market Monitor. 2014-09-22. Retrieved 2018-09-29.
  6. ↑ "Ettore Sottsass, rebelle et poète au pays du design". Marie Claire (in French). Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  7. ↑ "French Collector Pulls Loans from MACBA After Catalonia Referendum". www.artforum.com. Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  8. ↑ Stalder, Florient (2013). "Diagnostic en vue de l'établissement d'une Aire de Valorisation de l'Architecture et du Patrimoine" (PDF). Ville de Montsoreau.
  9. ↑ Manasse, V. (1999). Le Château de Montsoreau. Itinéraires du patrimoine.
  10. ↑ Hardion, R. (1928). Une visite au Château de Montsoreau. Tours.
  11. ↑ Stalder, F. (2013). Fontevraud-L’Abbaye et Montsoreau, un regard sur le Saumurois. Nantes: 303.
  12. ↑ Abbey, Athelney (1899). Two Cartularies of the Benedictine Abbeys of Muchelney and Athelney in the County of Somerset. subscribers only.
  13. ↑ Boussard, J. (1938). Le comté d'Anjou sous Henri Plantagenêt et ses fils. Paris. p. 11.
  14. ↑ Prigent, D. (2003). Congrès archéologique de France. Paris: Société française d'archéologie. p. 255.
  15. ↑ Prigent, Dominique (2003). Congrès Archéologique de France. Paris: Société française d'archéologie. p. 255.
  16. ↑ Stalder, Florient (2013). Fontevraud L'abbaye et Montsoreau, une regard sur le Saumurois. Nantes: 303.
  17. ↑ Guillot, O. (1972). Le comte d'Anjou et son entourage au XIe siècle. Paris. p. 310.
  18. ↑ Raimbault (1965). Notice historique sur le château et la commune de Montsoreau. Angers: Archives départementales du Maine-et-Loire. pp. 304–314.
  19. ↑ Desme de Chavigny, O. (1888). Les anciens seigneurs de Montsoreau. Tours. p. 18.
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  24. ↑ "Château de Montsoreau, l'art contemporain à portée de fleuve". parangone.fr (in French). Retrieved 2018-09-30.
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  31. ↑ Archives parlementaires de 1787 à 1860, first serie : 1787-1799, tome X,p. 7 Decree of 12 november 1789 (municipality)
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  33. ↑ Loire, Région Pays de la. "Les fours à pruneaux de Montsoreau". Patrimoine des Pays de la Loire (in French). Retrieved 2018-10-07.
  34. ↑ Stalder, Florient (2013). Fontevraud L'abbaye et Montsoreau, une regard sur le Saumurois. Nantes: 303.
  35. ↑ "Loire River Valley". Bob Cromwell: Travel, Linux, Cybersecurity. Retrieved 2018-10-07.
  36. ↑ "Histoire du parc naturel régional" (PDF). Parc Naturel Loire Anjou Touraine. 2017.
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  46. ↑ Distance Calculator
  47. ↑ Paris is 155 miles (249 km) air distance from Montsoreau, and Bordeaux is 167 miles (269 km) air distance from Montsoreau. – Distance Calculator
  48. ↑ Tockner, Klement; Uehlinger, Urs; Robinson, Christopher T. (2009-01-31). Rivers of Europe. Academic Press. ISBN 9780080919089.
  49. ↑ "Cinq beaux villages de France à découvrir cette année". Le Monde.fr (in French). Retrieved 2018-09-30.
  50. ↑ Cher (river) meeting point with Loire River is in Villandry 23 miles (37 km) air distance from Montsoreau, and Indre (River) meeting point with Loire River is in Avoine 6 miles (9.7 km) air distance from Montsoreau. – Distance Calculator
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  67. ↑ "Le Parc Naturel Régional Loire Anjou Touraine Val de Loire une balade en France". loirevalley.uk (in French). Retrieved 2018-10-09.
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