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75-547: Blois-Vienne ( French pronunciation: [blwavjɛn] ), or merely Vienne for locals, is the common name given to the southern part of Blois , central France, separated from the rest of the city by the natural border of the Loire river . It corresponds to the subdistricts of St Saturnin , La Creusille , Les Métairies (college and cemetery) and La Vaquerie , but also include the hamlets of Bas-Rivière and Béjun , although these ones are now administratively attached to

150-407: A river island that was likely to be surrounded by water in the event of heavy rains or floods. However, historians do not agree about the nature of the site. On the one hand, it would have been built on a presque-isle , surrounded by marshy spaces, becoming a real island only when the river floods. On the other hand, other historians believe that Vienne was rather a proper river island , even during

225-504: A spillway was created that could be flooded in case of flooding to protect the inhabited areas. The St-Michel and Chartrains bridges were progressively abandoned in favor of the development of practicable roads in the drained marshes. The construction of a bridge 70 meters upstream from the previous one led Vienne to reconsider its main axes. The road to St-Gervais, renamed President Wilson Avenue ( Avenue du Président Wilson in French) in

300-460: A few days before the armistice came into force, allowed the liberation of Blois, despite the bridge being cut and the temporary footbridge being impassable. During World War II only the western approaches to the bridge were hit by bombing. In 1944, the suburb was used as a refuge for German soldiers after the uprising of Resistance fighters on the right bank on 16 August; Vienne was liberated two weeks later, on 1 September (also odonym). During

375-487: A secondary settlement. Excavations carried out on the right bank between 2001 and 2016 and on the left bank in 2013-2014 revealed the presence of a large developed town on the right bank and an occupation on the left bank from the Gallic and Gallo-Roman periods. The Loire river has undoubtedly always been a major axis route, although no traces of a port have been discovered. However, there are remains of former bridges linking

450-491: A statue of Mary in the Loire river , next to La Creusille Harbor , and that they were the first in the church to implore her help. During this period, a custom was established in Bloisian of going to pray to Vienne-lez-Blois Church to the “Our Lady of Assistance” ( Notre-Dame des Aydes in French). Over the centuries, the church has been destroyed and rebuilt several times. This was due to fires and storms that ravaged

525-598: A storm and was under reconstruction, before being completed 3 years later in 1700, thanks to the intervention of Colbert 's wife, who herself came from Blois. The new edifice became Blois Cathedral and was dedicated to St. Louis . A large episcopal palace was built by King Louis XIV's official architect, Jacques Gabriel , right next to the newly built cathedral, on a site overlooking the Loire Valley. Landscaping of terraced gardens began in 1703 and lasted nearly 50 years. The so-called Bishopric Gardens were first open to

600-656: Is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher 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 most populated city of the department, and the 4th of the region. Historically, the city was the capital of the County of Blois , created on 832 until its integration into the Royal domain in 1498, when Count Louis II of Orléans became King Louis XII of France . During

675-689: Is now an urban park right on La Loire à Vélo bike route. Beyond the levees, La Bouillie Park is getting rehabilitated, and actually is a spillway in the event of floodings. Further to the south of the city, the Forêt de Russy is a reminder of the thick woods that once covered the area. The city also is provided with many religious edifices, including: The A10 motorway connects Blois with Paris, Orléans and Tours . Blois Railway Station offers direct connections from Paris, Orléans, Tours, Nantes , and to several regional destinations. Regular commuting connections exist between Blois and most cities in

750-465: Is the monumental Denis-Papin staircase which overlooks the town, provides a panoramic view by overlooking the downtown and the Loire Valley, and regularly enlivens urban space with original decorations. The fountain next to the staircase is a reminder of the location of the first Town Hall, destroyed after bombings on 16 June 1940. Blois achieved independence from the Diocese of Chartres in 1697, and

825-481: Is the name given to the southern part of the city, on the left bank of the Loire river. Independent from the city until 1606, there are many traces of the river's past. The main link between both banks is the Jacques-Gabriel Bridge , built in the early 18th century. From the levees circling the surroundings to other abandoned bridges, Vienne has also conserved a harbour, named La Creusille , which

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900-595: The Catholics led by Maréchal de St. André. On 7 February 1568, Protestants under Captain Boucard's command, looted and invaded the town, eventually killing many Catholics. Grey friars were also killed and thrown in the well of their own convent. In addition, all the churches were ransacked. In 1576 and 1588, King Henry III convoked the Estates General to Blois where he attained refuge after an uprising called

975-570: The Château of Amboise . Subsequently, Duke Louis II ran 22 miles between the Château and Blois, and was crowned King Louis XII of France. He then married Charles VIII 's widow, Queen Anne of Brittany , in 1499. The birth of their daughter, Claude of France , effected the union of Brittany with the France . Louis XII, as the last hereditary Count of Blois , naturally established his royal Court in

1050-671: The Day of the Barricades . In response, Duke Henry I of Guise was assassinated on 23 December 1588 for his involvement in the uprising. The following day, his brother, Cardinal Louis II of Guise , who was also Archbishop of Reims , suffered the same fate. Their deaths were shortly followed by that of the Queen-Mother, Catherine de' Medici . In the 16th century, the French Royal court often made Blois their leisure resort. After

1125-599: The Empire . Since the beginning of the Middle Ages, Vienne was being a distinct manor but vassal to the count of Blois , having adopted the name of Vienne-lez-Blois . There was administered by the parish of St-Saturnin, established opposite the present-day city center, on Vienna island. Nevertheless, the presence of diked bridges over the river as well as archaeological excavations demonstrate that both banks have always coexisted with each other. The development of trade on

1200-517: The Jacques-Gabriel Bridge . Blois-Vienne Church is located on a parallel axis, accessible from Rue Croix Boissée . Nearby, the eponymous churchyard is among of the four last ones in whole France, and the former residence of Duke Gaston of Orléans overlooks the Loire river with a remarkable panorama on Blois . On the Viennese bank the built-up fronts ( fronts bâtis in French) bring together all

1275-665: The Loir-et-Cher department, fleeing the Spanish Civil War and Dictator Francisco Franco . In June 1940, the German bombings destroyed a large part of the centre, and the French destroyed the 10th arch of Jacques-Gabriel Bridge to prevent further advance for the enemy. The German army bombed the former Town Hall on 16 June, thus killing Mayor Émile Laurens in the process, and took over the city 2 days later, on 18 June,

1350-597: The Prussian army took control of Blois during the Franco-Prussian War . The city was taken back by Lieutenant Georges de Villebois-Mareuil , General Joseph Pourcet , and General Bertrand de Chabron . Since then, a memorial stands on Wilson Avenue in Vienne. In 1939, the construction of Blois Basilica was completed. That same year, between 29 January and 8 February, more than 3,100 Spanish refugees came to

1425-564: The Renaissance , Blois was the official residence of the King of France . Since 2013, excavations have been conducted by French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research ( INRAP in French) in Vienne where they found evidence of "one or several camps of late Prehistory hunter-gatherers, who were also fishermen since fishing traps were found there.. [...] They were ancestors of

1500-590: The bell tower . After the French Revolution , at the end of the 18th century, works were resumed but interrupted by the Terror . During this period, the revolutionaries ransacked many religious premises in Blois, including St. Saturnin in Vienne , to stop “superstition and fanaticism”. In the process, the parish lost a large part of its paintings, wooden statues and doors, which were burnt. Since 1807 ,

1575-464: The cathedral was completed by 1700. As a result, the first bishops engineered wide gardens on several levels, next to the premises. Since the destruction of the former Blois town hall during World War II , local authorities requisitioned the bishop's apartments to establish there the new town hall. Now organised as an urban park , the gardens offer a panoramic view on the downtown, the Loire river, and Blois-Vienne . A statue of Joan of Arc , given to

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1650-431: The château as they could. King Louis XII also imported Renaissance style from Italy due to his successful military campaigns there. Among these so-called hôtels particuliers , there are: In addition, many citizens from the peoples engineered timber-framing buildings all across the city, including: Please note all the above edifices have been listed as historical monuments . Blois-Vienne (or merely Vienne )

1725-430: The quai Amédée Contant – rue des Ponts Chartrains , and quai Villebois-Mareuil – rue Croix-Boissée – rue de la Croix Rouge – rue des Métairies . The hamlets of Béjun and Bas-Rivière ("Low-River"), located downstream , were populated with a few tenant farms. The village was integrated into Blois in 1606, under the reign of King Henry IV , when Philip of Béthune , the last manor of Vienne, exchanged it with

1800-516: The 1860s, Bloisian painter Ulysse Besnard left his position as director of the municipal museum to devote himself to ceramics in a workshop in Vienne. He was followed by his disciples, basically including: Émile Balon , Alexandre Bigot , Gaston Bruneau , Josaphat Tortat , Adrien Thibault . During the Franco-Prussian War , the city was occupied, but the suburb was the scene of the assault by Generals Pourcet and Chabron (who left an odonym ) from Cheverny . Their victory on 28 January 1871, just

1875-657: The 1930s members of the Amar Circus settled in Les Métairies area and left an odonym there. A housing estate, still present today, was built in rue Sourderie . A Bloisian School of Circus ( École Blésoise du Cirque in French) still operates in this sector. In 1970 a second bridge was built over the Loire river to connect Vienne to the right bank in the East, the Charles-de-Gaulle Bridge , then in

1950-413: The 20th century, was thus built (at the expense of Rue Croix Boissée ) right in the axis of the Jacques-Gabriel Bridge . The avenue was opened in 1776. In the 19th century Vienne had strong difficulty struggling with the successive 100-year floods of the Loire river: first in 1846, then in 1856 (which is the worst of all the floods recorded in Blois since the French Revolution , as nearly 90% of Vienne

2025-524: The Châtillon dynastic line resided at Blois more often than their predecessors, and the oldest parts of the Château of Blois (from the 13th century) were built by them. In the Middle Ages, Blois was the seat of the County of Champagne when the latter passed to the French crown in 1314, forming the province of Champagne within the Kingdom of France . By 1397, Count Guy II of Blois-Châtillon offered

2100-510: The Middle Ages, entrances of Vienne town were often physically indicated by the presence of wayside crosses , as a sign of entry into a parish territory. In Vienne, there were 4 of these crosses: When the parish became proper part of the town of Blois in 1606, an octroi was built at the southern entrance of Wilson Avenue to mark the entrance to the town (and therefore the payment of toll fees). Blois Blois ( / b l w ɑː / BLWAH ; French: [blwa] )

2175-485: The Middle Ages. The Gaulish settlement was named Vienna (where Vienna would mean "river" in an ancient local dialect), and the island was known as Insula Evenna (literally "Vienna island"). When the Romans conquered Gaul during the 1st century BCE, they built a first wooden bridge (so-called Ancient bridge ), the foundations of which can be seen nowadays when the Loire river experiments drought flow . Before that,

2250-637: The West by 1994 with the François-Mitterrand Bridge , both named after the French presidents in office at the time of their inauguration. In the 1980s construction began in La Bouillie sector. An exhibition center , a racetrack , soccer fields , community gardens and housing were built there. The townhall won its case against the new owners or occupants of these dwellings, who were asked not to invest in this flooding zone since that

2325-431: The area during the ancient times was found. However, in 2013, French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research ( INRAP in French) conducted excavations in Vienne and found out evidence of Gaulish presence as early as the 4th century BCE (more precisely, they were from Carnutes tribe). Also, all the surroundings were different compared to what they are nowadays: at that era, Vienne have been built on sort of

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2400-605: The characteristics of this typical architectural element of the Loire Valley: open onto the river and marked by a bridge, levees, quays, grouped housing, along with a church, and a port. Moreover, those on the Quai Villebois-Mareuil were designed by the Bloisian architect Paul Robert-Houdin , grandson of the magician Jean-Eugène , as part of the post-war reconstructions. The former La Creusille Harbor

2475-541: The church on several occasions. However, after each destruction, there has had a reconstruction and new developments. The construction of the current church was ordered by Queen Anne of Brittany a few years after 1499 , when she married newly King Louis XII who was established in Blois . However, this was interrupted when she died in 1514 . A reconstruction project was set up in the early 16th century but remained unfinished. However, this project led to new developments in

2550-458: The church: a gallery cemetery was created between 1515 and 1520 , as well as a chapel in 1528 . During the French Wars of Religion , Protestants set fire to the building's framework in 1568 . A new reconstruction project changed the entire style of the church with the creation of ribbed vaults between 1570 and 1578 . A violent storm broke out on June 8, 1678 , and destroyed

2625-505: The château, like: Right in front of the château, La Maison de la Magie Robert-Houdin (i.e.: Robert-Houdin House of Magic) is a museum dedicated to illusionism . This is the only public museum in Europe which incorporates in one place collections of magic and a site for permanent performing arts, and directly reflects the personality of Robert-Houdin. Opened after bombings in 1944,

2700-500: The city became more industrialised from 1848 thanks to a successful chocolate brand created by Bloisian, Victor-Auguste Poulain . As in Paris, urban organisation in Blois was redesigned during 1850 and 1870 by Mayor Eugène Riffault , who was friends with Baron Georges-Eugène Haussmann . Thus, he had built a boulevard separating the modern upper town (where the cathedral, Hôtel of Préfecture , and Halle aux Grains are located), from

2775-463: The city by American patron J. Sanford Saltus, stands in the middle of the park. Bishopric gardens are open to public all the year, and a remarkable rose garden can be visited from 15 May and 30 September, each year. Since Count Louis II of Orléans became King Louis XII of France in 1498, the city started to host many noblepersons from all the Kingdom. All would build their own mansion as close from

2850-464: The city walls, on the bank of the Loire river. In the 13th century, a proper church was built, then fortified because of the Hundred Years' War . St. Lomer Abbey was completely destroyed during the French Wars of Religion . The edifice was rebuilt until the early 18th century. When the French Revolution broke out by 1789, the church was turnt into a Hôtel-Dieu , namely a charity hospital for

2925-580: The city. The Treaty of Blois , which temporarily halted the Italian Wars , was signed there in 1504–1505. During his reign, the city experienced a massive redevelopment, with some architectural elements inspired from the Italian Renaissance , as seen in the medieval castle immediately turned into a château , and the construction of many hôtels particuliers for the nobility throughout the entire kingdom. One of which, Hôtel d'Alluye ,

3000-532: The city. The Duke in 1657, found a hospital in Blois-Vienne , now named Résidence Gaston d'Orléans , and financed the reconstruction of the Hôtel-Dieu . He remained in Blois until his death, in 1660. Under Louis XIV 's reign, Blois became un independent bishopric . David Nicolas de Bertier, first bishop of Blois from 1697, chose as his seat the cathedral church of St. Solenne, that had been destroyed by

3075-572: The county to his cousin, Duke Louis I of Orléans , brother of King Charles VI . In 1429, Joan of Arc made Blois her base of operations for the relief of Orléans . She rode the 35 miles on 29 April from Blois to relieve Orléans. In 1440, after his captivity in England, Duke Charles of Orléans (son of Duke Louis I) took up residence in the Château of Blois, where in 1462 his son was born, Duke Louis II of Orléans who would afterwards become Louis XII . By 1498, King Charles VIII died with no heirs in

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3150-462: The cultural and historical estate. The Château of Blois , a Renaissance multi-style château once occupied by King Louis XII , is located in the centre of the city, and an 18th-century stone bridge spans the Loire. It was also the residence of many Counts of Blois , who were amongst the most closest vassals to the King of France between the 9th and the 14th century. Many gardens are located around

3225-525: The departure of the Royal Court towards Paris, Blois lost the status of a Royal residence, along with the luxury and economic activity that came with it. King Henry IV relocated the Royal library to Fontainebleau , which would later be the National Library of France ( Bibliothèque nationale de France ). In 1606, Philippe de Béthune gave his ownership of Vienne-lez-Blois village, on

3300-475: The entire Wilson Avenue. The district is also served by one of the two free shuttle lines set up by the transport company Azalys . Other projects are currently underway, including the rehabilitation of the former Duke Gaston of Orléans ' residence and La Bouillie area. Nowadays the Wilson Avenue is the main shopping axis of the district, crossing it from north-west to south-east, in the continuity of

3375-432: The exact same day of Charles de Gaulle's Appeal for Internal Resistance . Between June and August 1944, US-English-allied bombings destroyed other infrastructures, like the railway bridge between Blois and Romorantin . In total during World War II , 230 people were killed, and 1,522 buildings were entirely or partially destroyed. On 16 August 1944, the German troops withdrew to Blois-Vienne to seek refuge and destroyed

3450-517: The famous Neolithic farmer-herders, who were present in current France around 6,000 BCE [i.e.: 8,000 years ago]." A major urban development begun in 1959 uncovered the remains of a late Gallic settlement and an urban centre from the Gallo-Roman period. At that time, the town was located on the road linking Chartres to Bourges . In the network of cities of the Carnutes people, Blois was

3525-416: The have-nots, because Revolutionners destroyed many clergy- and royal-related monuments. After that, new buildings were added to the original St. Lomer Abbey, which became St. Nicholas Church , and the additional edifices remained dedicated to the Hôtel-Dieu of the city . Nonetheless, this part was gradually abandoned and taken back by some public services. A reconversion project is currently under study. In

3600-521: The late 19th century, Bloisian industrialist and chocolatier Victor-Auguste Poulain established his brand's factory next to Blois station . The premises moved in the 1980s. Nowadays, those are housings and host the National Institute and School of Applied Sciences ( INSA ). As Blois is built on a pair of steep hills, winding and steep pathways run through the city, culminating in long staircases at various points. The most iconic of them

3675-607: The left bank of the Loire river, to Blois, making it a part of the city afterwards known as Blois-Vienne . From 1617 to 1619 Marie de' Medici , wife of King Henri IV , exiled from the court by his son, King Louis XIII , lived in the château. By 1622, the Counter-Reformation arrived in Blois and a Society of Jesus was founded. St. Louis Chapel, which is today St. Vincent Church was also built at this time. Then in 1634, Louis XIII exiled his brother, Gaston, Duke of Orléans and Count of Blois, who became attached to

3750-459: The local capital. By 1814, Marie Louise, Duchess of Parma and wife of Napoleon I , found refuge in Blois. There was new development in Blois in the 19th century. Firstly, the railway arrived in 1846 with the inauguration of the Paris–Tours railway , whose Blois Station is a stop. The competition with river transport gradually forced La Creusille Harbor to reinvent its activity. In parallel,

3825-404: The locals likely used the submersible dike still visible in Blois at the level of St-Nicolas church, on the right bank, to cross the river. Nonetheless when Romans started wanting romanize Celtic tribes during the 1st century AD it seems that Gaulish individuals who were against romanization built their own community on Evenna island, whereas the right bank's inhabitants wanted to integrate

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3900-558: The meantime, he gradually expressed his will to move to Fontainebleau , near Paris, and started to abandon Blois. Much of the royal furniture was moved from Blois to Fontainebleau by 1539. The French Wars of Religion were a significantly destructive conflict for the French people. The city's inhabitants included many Calvinists , and in 1562 and 1567 it was the scene of struggles with the Catholics. On 4 July 1562, Blois and Beaugency , conquered by Protestants just before, were looted by

3975-614: The medieval lower town. He also paved the way to the construction of the boulevard Daniel Depuis , in the West of Blois. Between 1862 and 1865, the Denis-Papin staircase are built under La Morandière 's supervision, in the axis of Jacques-Gabriel Bridge and Blois-Vienne 's Wilson Avenue. In the meantime, the lower town faced three of the most significant floods of the Loire river: in 1846, 1856 (the worst), and 1866. The central districts of St. Jean and Blois-Vienne were under water, as well as La Bouillie spillway. On 13 December 1871,

4050-432: The neighboring commune of Chailles . In other words, it is now the left bank of the Loire in Blois. Nowadays this borough (or district) of around 10,000 inhabitants is the physical heritage of the former village of Vienne-lez-Blois , which remained independent of the royal domain until the beginning of the 17th century, when it was attached to the city, first as a suburb, then as a district. No written documentation about

4125-510: The other founts, there are: Blois is also the location of so-called Maison de la BD , a museum devoted to the art of comic books. Since the 1980s, this museum hosts an annual comic festival in late November called BD Boum , described as "the leading free comic book festival in France". Already by 924, monks from the St. Lomer community were given some acres below the medieval castle, but outside

4200-470: The place stands right below the château, closest to the Loire river, and is actually located at the center of Blois downtown. There are local shops and restaurants, and a 16th-century fountain stands below the Sycamores planted in the place. Known as Louis XII Fountain ( Fontaine Louis XII ), this is one of the greatest and oldest water inlets throughout the city, but far from being the only one. Among

4275-402: The present-day 13 rue Munier . Firstly known as St. Saturnin church , since the parish was dedicated to St. Saturnin of Toulouse , its name changed several times afterwards: St. Germain of Vienne church in 1326 , then St. Cernin church in 1391 , and finally St. Cerny church in 1449 . Since its establishment, the successive Blois-Vienne churches have always been modest buildings. It

4350-423: The pressure of a violent ice jam break-up on the river. Jacques Gabriel , the architect of King Louis XIV , was commissioned to build a new infrastructure , that would be completed in 1724, and bear his name. He took the opportunity to consolidate the existing levees around the suburb. In 1717, La Bouillie channel was also drained by a dike, thus definitively linking Vienna island to the left bank. In its place,

4425-498: The public in 1791 by Henri Grégoire (known as the Abbot Grégoire), the first constitutional bishop after the French Revolution . During the night of 6-7 February 1716, the medieval bridge collapsed. Construction of a new one was ordered the following year. Jacques-Gabriel Bridge was inaugurated in 1724. All the levies were consolidated, and the river channel of La Bouillie in the prolongation of La Creusille Harbour

4500-488: The river and of La Creusille Harbor allowed the village to prosper constantly. Innkeepers, leather-tanners, boatmen and fishermen prospered there at that time. Pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela ( Galicia , Spain) from Paris through Tours stopped here regularly. At the beginning of the 16th century, the construction of a new Blois-Vienne Church began under the orders of Queen Anne of Brittany , but remained unfinished at her death in 1514. The town of Vienne

4575-457: The royal domain for some land in Sologne . The hamlets of Bas-Rivière and Béjun , on the west of the island, came under the jurisdiction of the commune of Chailles . By 1657 Gaston, Duke of Orléans , settled on the banks of the Loire river near the church . After his death in 1660 his residence was converted into a hospital. During the winter of 1716, the medieval bridge collapsed under

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4650-532: The surroundings, including: During the 16th and 17th centuries, Blois was the hometown of many artisans in the watchmaking and goldsmithing industries. Among them: Blois is twinned with: Athos , the count of La Fère (from Alexandre Dumas ' The Three Musketeers ) has a castle in Blois, in Twenty Years After , and The Vicomte de Bragelonne (from the same author). Bloisian artisans' artworks (A list): Blois-Vienne Church It

4725-658: The three central arches of the bridge . On 1 September, they surrendered. The bridge was rebuilt and reopened in December 1948. In 1959, Mayor Marcel Bühler received President Charles de Gaulle and launched the construction of the ZUP , at the North of the city, on the same model of so-called banlieues of Paris or any other French city. Since 1986, Blois is part of the French Towns of Art and History program, which promotes

4800-483: The title of count to his faithful vassal, Theobald I of Blois ( circa 940). His descendants, known as "Thibaldians", remained as Counts up until the county became a royal possession in 1397. The House of Blois also succeeded in raising some of its members or descendants to the highest levels of the European nobility, notably by acceding to the thrones of France, England, Navarre, Spain and Portugal. In 1171, Blois

4875-549: The town hall has installed bronze nails which trace the history of the district through the traditional Viennese streets. Markers of the 1856 and 1866 floods are also present throughout the district (e.g.: around schools, in La Creusille park...). Many traces of history are visible in Vienne. For example, various timber framing houses are still visible since the Renaissance, or pieces of earthenware on façades. During

4950-516: The two banks . Though of ancient origin, Blois is first distinctly mentioned by Gregory of Tours in the 6th century, and the city gained some notability in the 9th century, when it became the seat of a powerful countship known as Blesum castrum by the counts of Blois . The Robertians were at the head of the county of Blois before 900. When Hugh the Great became duke of the Franks , he left

5025-573: Was a overflow channel . Since then, other facilities have been built within the levees, such as the Aggl'eau swimming pool or the municipal tennis courts. In 1995 sand mining , then practiced by sifters since the Middle Ages , was banned for being harmful to the river. Since 2016 Vienne has benefitted from the City Hall's Aménagement Cœur de Ville-Loire (ACVL) development program to redevelop

5100-638: Was also located on one of the pilgrimage routes of the Way of St James . During the Middle Ages , Vienne was one the favored transit points for those pilgrims walking on the Tours Route (on the Via Turonensis starting in Paris and passing next to the Loire river ). However, during the 15th and 16th centuries, it became an important place of worship . It is said that Viennese boatmen discovered

5175-468: Was built as a copy of an Italian palace for Florimond Robertet , who was an important French minister under King Charles VIII, King Louis XII and King Francis I . On 1 January 1515, Louis XII died. His throne would be passed to Francois I, the husband to his daughter, Claude of France . In 1519, King Francois I ordered the construction of the Château of Chambord (10 miles away from Blois), but its construction lasted for one year before he died in 1547. In

5250-535: Was closed and dried. When Duke Gaston of Orléans died, the château was stripped by King Louis XIV, and completely abandoned, to the point that King Louis XVI once considered demolishing it in 1788. The building was saved when the Royal-Comtois Regiment established their base within it. In 1790, Orléanais province was dissolved, the Département of Loir-et-Cher was created with Blois as

5325-661: Was mainly built around two axes starting from the Ancient bridge , probably built under Count Odo II of Blois : one running alongside the Loire to the port, before joining the Chartrains bridges driving to Vineuil ; the other joining the church then the Treen Cross ( Croix Boissée in French) and Les Métairies district to join the St-Michel bridges leading to St-Gervais . These axes still exist through -respectively-

5400-540: Was originally built between circa 1500 and 1528 . The edifice is in the late Flamboyant Gothic style. Its west side is oriented to one of the 4 last churchyards in France: Saint Saturnin's Churchyard . Between the 10th and 11th centuries, a Catholic church was established in Vienne-lez-Blois , on the left bank of the Loire, right in front of the town center of Blois , located at

5475-410: Was the site of a blood libel against its Jewish community that led to 31 Jews (by some accounts 40) being burned to death. Their martyrdom also contributed to a prominent and durable school of poetry inspired by Christian persecution. In 1196, Count Louis I of Blois granted privileges to the townsmen; a commune, which survived throughout the Middle Ages , probably dates from this time. The counts of

5550-473: Was turnt into an urban park along the river and, since 2000, has been listed as a World Heritage site by UNESCO . As part of the heritage of the Loire river more than any other part of Blois, Vienne is naturally part of the programme of La Loire à vélo and the European Rivers Route (EV6) . The banks of the Loire are therefore accessible by bike, except in the event of flooding. For walkers

5625-415: Was under water), and again in 1866. The railroad came to Blois in 1847, so La Creusille Harbor started losing in stake since as people as commodities now would travel faster. From 1886 to 1934, Vienne was served by several steam and electric tramway lines. Even today, one station remains almost as it was in rue Dupré , but the one in rue Ronceraie has been rehabilitated into housing since that time. In

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