Loire Valley

The Loire Valley between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes
UNESCO World Heritage Site
	Château d'Azay-le-Rideau
Location	France
Criteria	Cultural: i, ii, iv
Reference	933bis
Inscription	2000 (24th Session)
Area	86,021 ha
Buffer zone	213,481 ha
	1 2 class=notpageimage\| Limits of the World Heritage site: 1 = Sully-sur-Loire, 2 = Chalonnes-sur-Loire

The Loire Valley (French: Vallée de la Loire, pronounced [vale də la lwaʁ]), spanning 280 kilometres (170 mi),^[1] is a valley located in the middle stretch of the Loire river in central France, in both the administrative regions Pays de la Loire and Centre-Val de Loire. The area of the Loire Valley comprises about 800 square kilometres (310 sq mi).^[2] It is referred to as the Cradle of the French and the Garden of France due to the abundance of vineyards, fruit orchards (such as cherries), and artichoke, and asparagus fields, which line the banks of the river.^[3] Notable for its historic towns, architecture, and wines, the valley has been inhabited since the Middle Palaeolithic period.^[2] In 2000, UNESCO added the central part of the Loire River valley to its list of World Heritage Sites.

^ "Whc.unesco.org".
^ ^a ^b Tockner, Klement; Uehlinger, Urs; Robinson, Christopher T. (2009). Rivers of Europe. Academic Press. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-12-369449-2. Retrieved 11 April 2011.
^ Williams, Nicola; Boone, Virginie (1 May 2002). The Loire. Lonely Planet. pp. 7–10. ISBN 978-1-86450-358-6. Retrieved 12 April 2011.

[W-1] "Whc.unesco.org".

[TocknerUehlinger2009-2] Tockner, Klement; Uehlinger, Urs; Robinson, Christopher T. (2009). Rivers of Europe. Academic Press. p. 183. ISBN 978-0-12-369449-2. Retrieved 11 April 2011.

[WilliamsBoone2002-3] Williams, Nicola; Boone, Virginie (1 May 2002). The Loire. Lonely Planet. pp. 7–10. ISBN 978-1-86450-358-6. Retrieved 12 April 2011.

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