Couture-sur-Loir is a commune

Communes of France

The commune is the lowest level of administrative division in the French Republic. French communes are roughly equivalent to incorporated municipalities or villages in the United States or Gemeinden in Germany...

 in the Loir-et-Cher

Loir-et-Cher

Loir-et-Cher is a département in north-central France named after the rivers Loir and Cher.-History:Loir-et-Cher is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Orléanais and...

 department of central France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

It is situated in the north west of the Loir-et-Cher

Loir-et-Cher

Loir-et-Cher is a département in north-central France named after the rivers Loir and Cher.-History:Loir-et-Cher is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Orléanais and...

 département, 33 km (20.5 mi) to the west of Vendôme

Vendôme

Vendôme is a commune in the Centre region of France.-Administration:Vendôme is the capital of the arrondissement of Vendôme in the Loir-et-Cher department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It has a tribunal of first instance.-Geography:...

. It lies mainly on the left bank of the Loir

Loir

The Loir is a river in western France. It is a left tributary of the Sarthe River. Its source is in the Eure-et-Loir département, north of Illiers-Combray...

 River.

Geography

Couture is in the canton of Montoire-sur-le-Loir, which corresponds to the historic Bas-Vendômois

Bas-Vendômois

The Bas-Vendômois is a small district in central- western France, consisting of the 14 communes of the canton of Montoire-sur-le-Loir, in the arrondissement of Vendôme, département of Loir-et-Cher, France.-History:...

 district.

Adjacent to the village centre (with a crossroad street pattern) or bourg are two parallel settlements, Le Poirier and more distinctly Le Pin.

Economy

The main industry (apart from farming and tourism) is gravel extraction; excavated areas have been adapted for water sports. A number of inhabitants are employed by the paper manufacturers at Bessé-sur-Braye

Bessé-sur-Braye

Bessé-sur-Braye is a commune in the Sarthe department in the region of Pays-de-la-Loire in north-western France.-References:*...

 (Sarthe

Sarthe

Sarthe is a French department, named after the Sarthe River.- History :The department was created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790, pursuant to the law of December 22, 1789, starting from a part of the province of Maine which was divided into two departments, Sarthe to the east and...

).

History

It is first referred to as Villas culturas in a charter of the 9th century bishop of Le Mans, Saint Aldric

Saint Aldric

Saint Aldric was Bishop of Le Mans in the time of Louis the Pious, born c. 800; died at Le Mans, 7 January, 856. As a youth he lived in the court of Charlemagne, at Aix la Chapelle, as well as in that of his son and successor Louis....

 (earlier references are doubtless fictitious).

A partial source for the history of Couture in the later 17th century are the memoirs of Louis XIV

Louis XIV of France

Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...

's valet, Marie Dubois, who came from the village.

Sights

The housing reflects periods of prosperity and villégiature-type occupation in recent centuries.

Renowned for the Renaissance

Renaissance architecture

Renaissance architecture is the architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 17th centuries in different regions of Europe, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of ancient Greek and Roman thought and material culture. Stylistically, Renaissance...

 chateau

Château

A château is a manor house or residence of the lord of the manor or a country house of nobility or gentry, with or without fortifications, originally—and still most frequently—in French-speaking regions...

 of La Possonnière, birthplace of the poet Pierre de Ronsard

Pierre de Ronsard

Pierre de Ronsard was a French poet and "prince of poets" .-Early life:...

, the village also possesses an Angevin

House of Plantagenet

The House of Plantagenet , a branch of the Angevins, was a royal house founded by Geoffrey V of Anjou, father of Henry II of England. Plantagenet kings first ruled the Kingdom of England in the 12th century. Their paternal ancestors originated in the French province of Gâtinais and gained the...

 style church dedicated to Saints Gervase and Protase. The church contains the tombstone of Ronsard's parents and is known for its spire.

Miscellaneous

Notable 20th century inhabitants have included the Hallopeau and Sainte-Claire-Deville families (noted scientists), the academic inspector Jean Pasquier and the historian of Catholic mentality in western France, François Lebrun.

See also

• Braye River
  Braye River
  The Braye is a river of France, and a right tributary of the Loir River. Its source is located approximately less than one km west from Authon-du-Perche. It is 73 km long, and crosses Savigny-sur-Braye. Among its tributaries are the Grenne, Anille and Tusson...
  
  
• Communes of the Loir-et-Cher department