Indre is one of the original 83 departments created during theFrench Revolution on 4 March 1790, by order of theNational Constituent Assembly.[4] The new departments were to be uniformly administered and approximately equal in size and population to one another. The department was created from parts of the former provinces ofBerry,[4]Orléanais,La Marche andTouraine.[5]
Before the Roman conquest, the CelticBituriges tribe occupied an area that included Indre, Cher, and part ofLimousin. Their capital was Avaricum (Bourges), and another important settlement was atArgenton-sur-Creuse. The area then became part ofRoman Gaul after its conquest byJulius Caesar around 58 BC, and enjoyed a period of stability. Following the collapse of the Roman Empire in the West, the Frankish tribes living in Gaul were united under theMerovingians, and succeeded in conquering most of the country in the sixth century AD. From this time, theFranks controlled most of Gaul and theCarolingian Empire was the last stage of their rule. The Carolingian dynasty reached its peak with the crowning ofCharlemagne and after his death in 814, it began to fragment. The Carolingian territories were divided into three sections in 843 at theTreaty of Verdun, and the area that is now the department of Indre, became part ofWest Francia. In 869, the king ofMiddle Francia died without leaving a legitimate heir, and eventually part of that kingdom was added to West Francia to effectively form the medievalKingdom of France.[6]
A castle was built at Châteauroux in the late tenth century. In the eleventh century, the lords of Châteauroux were powerful in the region; their "principality" covered two thirds of the current Department of Indre and they had their own coinage.[7]
Indre is a department in central France and is part of the region ofCentre-Val de Loire. The capital and largest town in the department isChâteauroux. To the north of Indre liesLoir-et-Cher, to the eastCher, to the south liesCreuse andHaute-Vienne, to the southwest liesVienne, and to the northwest liesIndre-et-Loire. Most of the department is relatively level plains in the broad Loire Valley.[8]
The area of the department is 5,880 km2 (2,270 sq mi) and it is some 100 km (62 mi) from north to south and some 90 km (56 mi) wide. The land is undulating and slopes gently towards the northwest. The main rivers are theCreuse, theClaise and theIndre.[9] The Creuse, a tributary of theVienne, is 264 kilometres (164 mi) long and has been impounded in several places; at the time it was built in 1926, theEguzon Dam was the largest dam in Europe.[10] The Claise is 88 kilometres (55 mi) long and is a tributary of the Creuse. The Indre is a longer waterway and flows centrally through the department from south to north, through the major towns ofLa Châtre,Châteauroux andLoches. It is a tributary of theLoire, joining it atChinon in the neighbouring department of Loir-et-Cher.[9]
Indre is divided into four natural regions; North Boischaut is undulating land with an altitude between 80 and 215 m (260 and 710 ft) and occupies the northeast of the department, South Boischaut is hilly and lies in the south and southeast, a marshy tract of land known as Brenne is in the southwestern part of the department, and the flat, dry, flinty limestone plateau of Champagne berrichonne is in the east and continues into Cher. The highest point of the department is near the town ofPouligny-Notre-Dame where the land rises to 459 m (1,506 ft) above sea level.[8] The department is made up of 680,910 ha (1,682,600 acres) of land of which 401,535 ha (992,210 acres) are under arable cropping, 85,305 ha (210,790 acres) are grassland, 67,423 ha (166,610 acres) are woodland, 18,110 ha (44,800 acres) are under grapes and 18,273 ha (45,150 acres) are gardens and orchards. The remaining land is heathland, urban land and waterways.[9]
The economy is mostly agricultural. In the past many sheep were raised in the department and woollen yarn was the main manufactured product. There is also a linen industry as well as the manufacture of hosiery and paper. The department has some minerals in the form of coal, iron, stone, marble and clay.[9]
Châteauroux, the capital of the department, is a historic town. It was originally called "Château Raoul", the present day château which now houses the préfecture being built on the site of a castle constructed in the tenth century by Raoul le Large, lord ofDéols. In 1188 the castle was held by Philippe Auguste who was concerned in protecting the drapery business centred in the town and along the banks of the River Indre from fraud. From 1612 to 1736 it was a duchy of theHouse of Condé and from 1742 to 1744 was under the control of the Marquise de la Tournelle.[14] The Indre department has two villages which have been classified among themost beautiful villages of France:Saint-Benoît-du-Sault andGargilesse-Dampierre.
^Archives départementales de l’Indre,Berry médiéval : à la découverte de l’Indre au Moyen Âge, catalogue d’exposition, Châteauroux, Archives départementales de l’Indre, 2009.
^abPhilips' Modern School Atlas. George Philip and Son, Ltd. 1973. pp. 42–43.ISBN0-540-05278-7.
