history and culture of the Loire Valley

The Loire Valley might seem like one of the most peaceful places in France with its fairy tails castles and old world villages and chateaux. But even if the region became a popular retreat for the royalty of France, in fact the area is one with a rich history and the numerous Loire chateau and fortifications are a testament to the numerous conflicts that took place over the centuries.
Today the Loire Valley artistic and historic heritage can be found in the stones of its villages, the lofty façades of its defensive chateaux and in the works of its artists.

The Renaissance (French for "rebirth") was a cultural movement that spanned roughly the 14th to the 17th century, beginning in Florence in the Late Middle Ages and later spreading to the rest of Europe...

Italian High Renaissance Painter and Inventor, 1452-1519, Leonardo Da Vinci was a man of "both" worlds and was a master of both of art and science. A painter, a sculptor, an architect, a musician, an engineer, an inventor, and a scientist...a genius...

The Plantagenets were descendants of Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Anjou. The Plantagenet kings are usually counted until Richard II...

The Loire River  is the longest river in France and represents more than a fifth of France's land area. It rises in the Cévennes, flows for over 1,000 km north then west until it reaches St Nazaire on the west coast. The central part of the Loire Valley was added to the World Heritage Sites list of UNESCO in 2000, where the banks are characterized by vineyards and chateaux in the Loire Valley...

The Loire Valley shelters many southern species of animals and plants, and the region’s wild areas have much to offer for wildlife and bird watchers or countryside lover, with nature reserves, nature trails and hides...

City of Art and History, ancient Gallo-Roman city, then capital of the kingdom of France, the city of Tours enjoys an exceptional place at the centre of the famous Loire Valley chateaux, in the heart of the garden of France...

Amboise, "Ambacia" in Latin, means " between two waters ". The name of the city makes reference to its past through numerous French castles and to its privileged geographical situation...