LOIRET, a department of central France, made up of the three districts of the ancient province of Orleanais—Orleanais proper, Gatinais and Dunois. It is bounded north by Seine-et Oise, north-east by Seine-et-Marne, east by Yonne, south by Nievre and Cher, south-west and west by Loir-et-Cher and north west by Eure-et-Loir. Area, 2,629 sq.m. Pop. (1931) 342,679. The department is a plain drained by the Loire from east to west, receiving the Loiret in the west on its left bank ; this stream is only a few miles long, but so large that it is supposed to be an underground branch of the Loire. Towards the north the drainage is to the Seine by the Essonne and the Loing. The Sologne (see LOIR-ET-CHER) and the Beauce (see EURE-ET-LOIR) extend into the department on the south-west and north-west respectively. In the east is La Gatine (capital Montargis), a region of wilder nesses producing saffron and honey. The historic forest north of Orleans is slowly giving place to arable land. The lateral canal of the Loire from Roanne stops at Briare, from which town the canal de Briare connects with the Seine by the Loing valley, which is joined by the Orleans canal below Montargis. The mean temperature is a little above that of Paris; the rainfall varies from 18.5 in. in the exposed Beauce to 27.5 in. in the well-wooded Sologne. Hailstorms cause destruction in the Loire valley and the neighbouring regions.
Sheep, cattle, horses, pigs, poultry, especially geese, and bees are reared. The chief cereals are wheat and oats, rye, barley, meslin, buckwheat ; potatoes, beetroot, colza and forage plants and vines are grown, largely for vinegar. The woods consist of oak, elm, birch and pine ; fruit trees thrive in the department, and Orleans is a great centre of nursery gardens. Gien is an important centre for the manufacture of faience. Porcelain buttons and beads are made at Briare. There are iron and copper foundries, which make agricultural and other implements. There are wool spinning and wool manufacture carried on. The two arrondisse ments are those of Orleans and Montargis, with 31 cantons and 349 communes. The department forms part of the academie (educational division) of Paris. It forms also the bishopric of Orleans under the archbishops of Paris. It is in the military region of the Xth Army Corps (Orleans) ; and has its court of appeal at Orleans. The churches of Clery ( 15th century), of Ferrieres (13th and 14th centuries) of Puiseaux (12th and 13th centuries) and Meung (12th century) are interesting. At Germigny-des-Pres there is a church built originally at the beginning of the 9th century and rebuilt in the 19th century, on the old plan and to some extent with the old materials. Yevre-le-Chatel has an in teresting 13th century château, and Sully-sur-Loire the fine mediaeval chateau rebuilt at the beginning of the 17th century by Maximilien de Bethune, duke of Sully, the famous minister of Henry IV. There are remains of a Gallo-Roman town (perhaps the ancient V ellaunodununi) at Trigueres and of a Roman amphi theatre near Montbouy.
a department of central France, formed in 1790 from a small portion of Touraine, the Perche, but chiefly from the Dunois, VendOmois and Blesois, portions of Orleanais.
It is bounded N. by Eure-et-Loir, N.E. by Loiret, S.E. by Cher, S. by Indre, S.W. by Indre-et-Loire and N.W. by Sarthe. Pop. (1931) 241,592. Area, 2,478 sq.m. The department stretches from the river Cher in the south through the one-time marshy Sologne, now largely drained, and across the Loire to the south east corner of the hills of Perche, rising in the department to 84o f t., and draining to the Loir which flows westwards to join the Maine above Angers. Between Loir and Loire is the southern part of the Beauce (see EURE-ET-LOIR). In the tufa walls here and there in the valleys of Cher and Loir dwellings have been exca vated, as at Les Roches in the Loir valley. The Sologne is famous for hunting and fishing. The Loire and, with the help of the Berry canal, the Cher are navigable. The climate is temperate and mild, though that of the Beauce tends to dryness and that of the Sologne to dampness. The mean annual temperature is between 52° and 53°. The department is primarily agricultural. The northern region of the department yields abundant wheat and oats, besides rye and potatoes. Vines thrive on the valley slopes, the vineyards falling into four groups—those of the Cher, which yield fine red wines, the Sologne, the Blesois and the Vendomois. In the valleys fruit-trees and nursery gardens are numerous ; the asparagus of Romorantin and Vendome is well-known. The Sologne supplies pine and birch for fuel, and there are extensive forests around Blois and on both sides of the Loir. There is good pasture in the valleys. Sheep are the chief stock ; the Perche breed of horses is famous for lightness and strength. Formerly the speciality of Loir-et-Cher was the production of gun-flints. Stone-quarries are numerous. The chief industries are cloth-manufacture, leather dressing, glove-making, lime-burning, the manufacture of "sabots" and boots and shoes, hosiery and linen goods. The department is served chiefly by the Orleans railway.
The arrondissements are those of Blois, Romorantin and VenclOme, with 24 cantons and 297 communes. Loir-et-Cher forms part of the educational division (academie) of Paris. Its court of appeal and the headquarters of the V. army corps, to the regions of which it belongs, are at Orleans. Blois, the capital, the seat of a bishop under the archbishop of Paris, Vendome, Romorantin and Chambord are the chief towns. In addition to those of Blois and Chambord there are numerous fine chateaux in the department, of which that of Montrichard with its i i th century donjon, that of Chaumont (15th and i6th centuries), and that of Cheverny (17th century) in the late Renaissance style are the most important. Those at St. Aignan, Lassay, Lavardin and Cellettes may also be mentioned. Churches wholly or in part of Romanesque architecture are found at Faverolles, Selles-sur-Cher, St. Aignan and Suevres. The village of Troo is built close to ancient tumuli and has a 12th century church, and among other remains those of a lazar-house of the Romanesque period. There are several megaliths in the department.