natural region
A natural region (landscape unit) is a basic geographic unit. Usually, it is a region which is distinguished by its common natural features of geography, geology, and climate.
From the ecological point of view, the naturally occurring flora and ...
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
Loire
The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...
, to its south the river Cher, while the districts of Sancerre and Berry are to its east.
Its inhabitants are known as the ''Solognots'' (masculine) and ''Solognotes'' (feminine).
Its name is thought to derive either from the
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
''sœcalonia'' (" rye country") or ''sabulonia'' ("sandy country").
Natural regions
Geography
The Sologne is watered by the Cosson and the Beuvron, tributaries of the Loire, and the Sauldre, a tributary of the Cher, all three having a west-south-westerly direction. The pools and marshes which are characteristic of the region are due to the impermeability of its soil, which is a mixture of sand and clay.
The main towns of Sologne are:
*
Orléans
Orléans (;"Orleans" (US) and Romorantin-Lanthenay (which hosts the
Museum of Sologne
The Museum of Sologne is a museum dedicated to the history and culture of the Sologne region. This museum is located in Romorantin-Lanthenay, France. The museum has three buildings:
* Chapter Mill
* Town Mill
* The Jacquemart Tower.
History ...
)
*
La Ferté-Saint-Aubin
La Ferté-Saint-Aubin () is a commune in the Loiret department in the administrative region of Centre-Val de Loire, France.
Geography
The commune is traversed by the Cosson river.
Population
Filming location
During February 1939, the Chateau d ...
*
Salbris
Salbris () is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department in central France.
Population
See also
* Sologne
* Communes of the Loir-et-Cher department
The following is a list of the 267 communes of the Loir-et-Cher department of France.
The ...
*
Lamotte-Beuvron
Lamotte-Beuvron () is a town and commune of about 5000 inhabitants in the Loir-et-Cher department of Centre-Val de Loire, France.
The French Federal Equestrian Park, one of the largest in Europe, is based in Lamotte-Beuvron. Each July, the Fed ...
*
Aubigny-sur-Nère
Aubigny-sur-Nère () is a town and commune in the Cher department in the administrative region of Centre-Val de Loire, France.
Geography
An area of forestry and farming surrounding a small light industrial town, situated in the valley of the r ...
History
In the middle of the 19th century
Napoleon III
Napoleon III (Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was the first President of France (as Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte) from 1848 to 1852 and the last monarch of France as Emperor of the French from 1852 to 1870. A nephew ...
led the way in the reclamation of swamps, the planting of pines and other trees and other improvements. Arable farming and stock-raising are fairly flourishing in the Sologne, but there is little manufacturing activity, the cloth manufacture of
Romorantin
Romorantin is a traditional French variety of white wine grape, that is a sibling of Chardonnay. Once quite widely grown in the Loire, it has now only seen in the Cour-Cheverny AOC. It produces intense, minerally wines somewhat reminiscent of ...
being the chief industry. Game is abundant, and the region owes much of its revived prosperity to the creation of large sporting estates.
Cultural references
In the early 18th century, Jean-Philippe Rameau composed a famous harpsichord piece, ''Les Niais de Sologne'', whose name translates as "the simpletons of Sologne". The form is a
rondo
The rondo is an instrumental musical form introduced in the Classical period.
Etymology
The English word ''rondo'' comes from the Italian form of the French ''rondeau'', which means "a little round".
Despite the common etymological root, rondo ...
with two episodes that are variations on the main section. Despite the title (which may allude to the meandering melody throughout), its use of ornamentation denotes a work of great subtlety and sophistication.
The book '' Le Grand Meaulnes'' by Alain-Fournier is set in the region of Sologne and mentions several places, such as Bourges, Vierzon, and the Cher. It is somewhere in this region where Meaulnes becomes lost and stumbles across the mysterious estate.
Many stories and essays of Maurice Genevoix are set in Sologne.