Château-Renault

Château-Renault

Chateau

Coat of arms
Château-Renault

Coordinates: 47°35′32″N 0°54′37″E / 47.5922°N 0.9103°E / 47.5922; 0.9103Coordinates: 47°35′32″N 0°54′37″E / 47.5922°N 0.9103°E / 47.5922; 0.9103
Country France
Region Centre-Val de Loire
Department Indre-et-Loire
Arrondissement Tours
Canton Château-Renault
Government
  Mayor (20082014) Michel Cosnier
Area1 3.51 km2 (1.36 sq mi)
Population (2009)2 5,240
  Density 1,500/km2 (3,900/sq mi)
Time zone CET (UTC+1)
  Summer (DST) CEST (UTC+2)
INSEE/Postal code 37063 / 37110
Elevation 83–129 m (272–423 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.

Château-Renault is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.

The town of Chateau-Renault is equidistant to the cities of Tours and Vendôme and can be reached on train services on the Tours-Paris or Tours-Vendôme lines. The commune includes the settlements of Villedomer, Les Hermites, Saunay, Auzouer, Neuville-sur-Brenne, and Crotelles.

History

Evidence of early human occupation or the Loire Valley has been found such as the standing stones of Pierrefite and several hand tools, but the settlement of Chateau-Renault dates from the feudal wars that occurred in the 11th century between the Counts of Blois and the Counts of Anjou. In the early part of the century a loyal member of the court of the Count of Blois was charged by the construction of a defensive structure( most likely a simple wooden tower) on the site of the present chateau. He named this defensive structure after his son, Renaud. This was the origin of the towns name. However, the defensive structure was not enough and the area was soon lost to the Counts of Anjou. It was under the new management that land was donated for the construction of a chapel and a small settlement at the foot of the castle site.

Population

Historical population
YearPop.±%
17932,030    
18002,518+24.0%
18062,052−18.5%
18212,208+7.6%
18312,468+11.8%
18362,434−1.4%
18412,877+18.2%
18463,108+8.0%
18513,270+5.2%
18563,258−0.4%
18613,562+9.3%
18663,978+11.7%
18723,870−2.7%
18763,831−1.0%
18814,256+11.1%
18864,203−1.2%
18914,397+4.6%
18964,492+2.2%
19014,261−5.1%
19064,299+0.9%
19114,135−3.8%
19214,063−1.7%
19264,097+0.8%
19314,106+0.2%
19363,877−5.6%
19464,180+7.8%
19544,035−3.5%
19624,238+5.0%
19685,125+20.9%
19756,043+17.9%
19826,121+1.3%
19905,787−5.5%
19995,538−4.3%
20065,245−5.3%
20095,240−0.1%

Products

The town was renowned throughout 19th century France for the leather produced there. High levels of calcium carbonate in the water gave the leather produced there a thick, resistant nature and the arrival of the railway in 1867 ensured that the product had access to a market.

International relations

It is twinned with the towns Ripley (United Kingdom), Mülheim-Kärlich (Germany) and Covăsânț (Romania).[1]

See also

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Château-Renault.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 10/26/2014. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.