Château-Renault

Château-Renault
Chateau Chateau
Coat of arms of Château-Renault Coat of arms
Château-Renault
Location within Centre region Château-Renault
Coordinates:
Country	France
Region	Centre-Val de Loire
Department	Indre-et-Loire
Arrondissement	Tours
Canton	Château-Renault
Government
• Mayor (2008–2014)	Michel Cosnier
Area1	3.51 km2 (1.36 sq mi)
Population (2009)2	5,240
• Density	1,500/km2 (3,900/sq mi)
INSEE/Postal code	37063 / 37110
Elevation	83–129 m (272–423 ft)
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. 2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Château-Renault is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.

The town of Chateau-Renault is equidistant to the cities of Tours and Vendôme and can be reached on train services on the Tours-Paris or Tours-Vendôme lines. The commune includes the settlements of Villedomer, Les Hermites, Saunay, Auzouer, Neuville-sur-Brenne, and Crotelles.

History

Evidence of early human occupation or the Loire Valley has been found such as the standing stones of Pierrefite and several hand tools, but the settlement of Chateau-Renault dates from the feudal wars that occurred in the 11th century between the Counts of Blois and the Counts of Anjou. In the early part of the century a loyal member of the court of the Count of Blois was charged by the construction of a defensive structure( most likely a simple wooden tower) on the site of the present chateau. He named this defensive structure after his son, Renaud. This was the origin of the towns name. However, the defensive structure was not enough and the area was soon lost to the Counts of Anjou. It was under the new management that land was donated for the construction of a chapel and a small settlement at the foot of the castle site.

Population

Historical population
Year	Pop.	±%
1793	2,030	—
1800	2,518	+24.0%
1806	2,052	−18.5%
1821	2,208	+7.6%
1831	2,468	+11.8%
1836	2,434	−1.4%
1841	2,877	+18.2%
1846	3,108	+8.0%
1851	3,270	+5.2%
1856	3,258	−0.4%
1861	3,562	+9.3%
1866	3,978	+11.7%
1872	3,870	−2.7%
1876	3,831	−1.0%
1881	4,256	+11.1%
1886	4,203	−1.2%
1891	4,397	+4.6%
1896	4,492	+2.2%
1901	4,261	−5.1%
1906	4,299	+0.9%
1911	4,135	−3.8%
1921	4,063	−1.7%
1926	4,097	+0.8%
1931	4,106	+0.2%
1936	3,877	−5.6%
1946	4,180	+7.8%
1954	4,035	−3.5%
1962	4,238	+5.0%
1968	5,125	+20.9%
1975	6,043	+17.9%
1982	6,121	+1.3%
1990	5,787	−5.5%
1999	5,538	−4.3%
2006	5,245	−5.3%
2009	5,240	−0.1%

Products

The town was renowned throughout 19th century France for the leather produced there. High levels of calcium carbonate in the water gave the leather produced there a thick, resistant nature and the arrival of the railway in 1867 ensured that the product had access to a market.

International relations

It is twinned with the towns Ripley (United Kingdom), Mülheim-Kärlich (Germany) and Covăsânț (Romania).

See also

• Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department

References

• INSEE commune file