Montrichard () is a town and former commune in 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,

Centre-Val de Loire Centre-Val de Loire (; ,In isolation, ''Centre'' is pronounced . ) or Centre Region (, ), as it was known until 2015, is one of the eighteen Regions of France, administrative regions of France. It straddles the middle Loire Valley in the interior ...

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 ...

. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune of

Montrichard Val de Cher Montrichard Val de Cher or Montrichard-Val-de-Cher (), is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department in the Centre-Val de Loire region, France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Oversea ...

. During the French Revolution, the commune was known as .

Geography

The town lies on the north bank of the river

Cher Cher ( ; born Cheryl Sarkisian, May 20, 1946) is an American singer, actress and television personality. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Goddess of Pop", she is known for her Androgyny, androgynous contralto voice, Music an ...

. south of

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher Departments of France, department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the mos ...

, west of

Vierzon Vierzon () is a Communes of France, commune in the Cher (department), Cher departments of France, department, Centre-Val de Loire, France. Geography A medium-sized town by the banks of the river Cher (river), Cher with some light industry and a ...

and east 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 ...

. The countryside is mainly constituted of vineyard, woods, cattle and cereals.

Sites and monuments

* Château de Montrichard, a mediaeval castle. * Nanteuil Church (12th, 13th, 15th centuries), whose statue of the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

is the object of a very ancient

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

Whit Monday Whit Monday or Pentecost Monday, also known as Monday of the Holy Spirit, is the holiday celebrated the day after Pentecost, a moveable feast in the Christian liturgical calendar. It is moveable because it is determined by the date of Easter. In ...

. * Church of the Holy Cross (''Église Ste-Croix'') has a fine Romanesque doorway and was the site of Joan of France's marriage to the future king. * Château de Pont-Cher, a 15th-century home built into the cliff, containing the René Galloux collection of prehistoric and

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization (cultural), Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire in Roman Gaul. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, Roman culture, language ...

artefacts from excavations in the Cher valley.

Pronunciation

is pronounced , with a T sound, despite its silence in the word and similar place names such as . One of the explanations that may justify the pronunciation of the T is that is derived from the words (mountain, hill), (for three) and (square), because the town is situated on a hill surrounded on three sides by square towers.

Notable people

* Joan of France, Duchess of Berry, married the future king of France

Louis XII Louis XII (27 June 14621 January 1515), also known as Louis of Orléans was King of France from 1498 to 1515 and King of Naples (as Louis III) from 1501 to 1504. The son of Charles, Duke of Orléans, and Marie of Cleves, he succeeded his second ...

in Montrichard, though the marriage was later annulled. * André Alerme, a French actor who appeared in more than 70 films, died here in 1960. * Paulette Abagnale, mother of Frank Abagnale, confidence trickster * Gaétan Cathelineau, painter of portraits and of historical and genre subjects. * Eugénie Luce, French educator who lived and worked in

Algiers Algiers is the capital city of Algeria as well as the capital of the Algiers Province; it extends over many Communes of Algeria, communes without having its own separate governing body. With 2,988,145 residents in 2008Census 14 April 2008: Offi ...

, died in Montrichard in 1882.

Popular culture

The town is mentioned in the 2002 film ''

Catch Me If You Can ''Catch Me If You Can'' is a 2002 American crime comedy-drama film directed and produced by Steven Spielberg and starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks with Christopher Walken, Martin Sheen, Nathalie Baye, Amy Adams, and James Brolin in ...

'', as the town from which the mother of Frank Abagnale came. Later in the film, Abagnale has set up a high-end printing facility for printing corporate cheques in Montrichard when he is tracked down and arrested by the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

. The exterior shots of the town, however, were filmed in the Place Royale in the lower town of

Quebec City Quebec City is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Census Metropolitan Area (including surrounding communities) had a populati ...

, Canada, which is identifiable by the presence of the

Notre-Dame-des-Victoires Church Notre-Dame-des-Victoires () is a small Roman Catholic stone church on Place Royale, Quebec City, Place Royale in the lower town of Old Quebec City. Construction was started in 1687 on the site of Samuel de Champlain, Champlain's Habitation de Qué ...

References

Former communes of Loir-et-Cher {{LoirCher-geo-stub