Château-Renault is a commune in the

Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River. In 2019, it had a population of 610,079.department in central

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Geography

Château-Renault is located on the Far-West of the Gâtine Tourangelle plateau, next to the

Loir-et-Cher Loir-et-Cher (, ) is a Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region of France. It is named after two rivers which run through it, the Loir in its northern part and the Cher (river), Cher in its southern p ...

department and at the confluence of two rivers : The ''Gault'' and the ''Brenne''. Its Elevation vary between 90 meters and 140 meters on the plateau. The area of the commune is 3.51 square kilometre. Located in the North of A10 highway, the town of Chateau-Renault is equidistant to the cities of

Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...

and

Vendôme Vendôme (, ) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Departments of France, department of Loir-et-Cher, France. It is also the department's third-biggest Communes of France, commune with 15,856 inhabitants (2019). It is one of th ...

and can be reached on train services on the Tours-Paris or Tours-Vendôme lines.

History

The town at the Middle Age

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.

The development of tanneries

From the early 19th century to the mid 20th century, Château-Renault became famous for its activity of tanning leather. It was ultimately a strong industry that had a big influence on how the town developed. The leather produced was used in shoes production. 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.

Demography

Notable people

* André Bauchant,

naïve Naivety (also spelled naïvety), naiveness, or naïveté is the state of being naive. It refers to an apparent or actual lack of experience and sophistication, often describing a neglect of pragmatism in favor of moral idealism. A ''naïve'' may ...

painter, born in Château-Renault in 1873. He died in 1958. * :fr:Jean-François Martin Gardien (1755-1793), member of the Convention parliament. * :fr:Paul Séguin-Bertault (1869-1964), painter born in Château-Renault. * André Verrier (1919-2013), awarded by the

Order of Liberation The Order of Liberation (, ) is a French Order which was awarded to heroes of the Liberation of France during World War II. It is a worn by recipients only before the ''Légion d’Honneur'' (Legion of Honour). In the official portrait of G ...

International relations

It is twinned with the towns Ripley (United Kingdom), Mülheim-Kärlich (Germany) and Covăsânț (Romania).Château-Renault official website

References

Communes of Indre-et-Loire Touraine {{IndreLoire-geo-stub