Inclusion on the List of world heritage sites
The Val de Loire has been included on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites since 30 November 2000.
- Val de Loire between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes-sur-Loire
- What is the list of World Heritage sites?
- Why was the Val de Loire included on the list?
- What changes as a result of inclusion on the list?
- What are the issues around inclusion on the list?
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Val de Loire between Sully-sur-Loire and Chalonnes-sur-Loire
The listing specifically covers the Val de Loire and the area situated in general between the two hillsides that border the river between Sully-sur-Loire (Loiret) and Chalonnes-sur-Loire (Maine-et-Loire), a distance of 280 km and an area of almost 800 sq. km. See the map of the listed site.
The area includes:
- 2 regions (Centre and Pays de la Loire),
- 4 departments (Loiret, Loir-et-Cher, Indre-et-Loire and Maine-et-Loire),
- 6 conurbations (Orléans, Blois, Tours, Chinon, Saumur and Angers),
- 11 designated local areas,
- 1 Regional Natural Park (Loire-Anjou-Touraine),
- 160 towns and villages
It is home to a population of over one million residents.
The impact of the listing, however, covers an area far wider than that of the listed site itself, and numerous monuments, towns and villages have benefited from the site as a centre of attraction.
The inclusion of the Val de Loire on the UNESCO list of World Heritage sites in 2000 brought international recognition and acknowledged the efforts made at the level of the Loire basin, in particular since 1994, with the implementation of the first management plan for the river, the Plan Loire Grandeur Nature.
What is the list of World Heritage sites?
"The United Nations Organisation for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO) encourages the identification, protection and preservation of cultural and natural heritage throughout the world as having exceptional value for humanity. This is the subject of an international treaty entitled Convention concerning the protection of world cultural and natural heritage, adopted by UNESCO in 1972."
This convention defines the link between culture and nature, incorporates development and conservation, and acts as a driver for international solidarity.
Find out more: World Heritage Centre
Why was the Val de Loire included on the list?
The Val de Loire was included as an organically evolved, continuing cultural landscape.
Definitions according to the Operational Guidelines for the implementation of the World Heritage Convention
"Cultural landscapes are cultural properties and represent the "combined works of nature and of man" designated in Article 1 of the Convention. They are illustrative of the evolution of human society and settlement over time, under the influence of the physical constraints and/or opportunities presented by their natural environment and of successive social, economic and cultural forces, both external and internal."
An organically evolved landscape "results from an initial social, economic, administrative and/or religious imperative and has developed its present form by association with and in response to its natural environment."
"A continuing landscape is one which retains an active social role in contemporary society closely associated with the traditional way of life, and in which the evolutionary process is still in progress."
Find out more about the concept of the cultural landscape.
The Val de Loire meets 3 of the 10 listing criteria defined by UNESCO:
(i) Represent a masterpiece of human creative genius
(ii) Exhibit an important interchange of human values over a span of time or within a cultural area of the world, on developments in architecture or technology, monumental arts, town planning or landscape design
(iv) Be an outstanding example of a type of building, architectural or technological ensemble or landscape which illustrates (a) significant stage(s) in human history.
The Val de Loire is, indeed, an exceptional cultural landscape along a major river, and illustrates the harmonious development of interactions between humans and their environment over two thousand years of history (ii). This landscape and more particularly its numerous cultural monuments, also demonstrate to an exceptional degree the ideals of the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment on the thinking and creation of Western Europe (iv). The Val de Loire is remarkable for the quality of its architectural heritage, with its historic towns such as Blois, Chinon, Orléans, Saumur and Tours, but more particularly for its world-famous châteaux, the "châteaux of the Loire", such as Chambord (i). Chambord was, in fact, included on the list of World Heritage sites in 1981 on the basis of this last criterion.
The cultural landscape of the Val de Loire has been developed by man around the culture of 4 elements:
- The culture of water with the Loire and its tributaries
- The culture of stone, with its built, architectural and monumental heritage (such as the Loire châteaux and abbeys) and its urban (the towns and villages built on the Loire) and domestic heritage (cave dwellings)
- The culture of gardens, both through ornamental gardens and the cultivation of fruit and vegetables
- The culture of wine and winemaking in the Val de Loire
Find out more about the rich diversity of the Val de Loire World Heritage site.
Further information:
Val de Loire Mission
« Le paysage culturel ligérien – La Loire, un fleuve à visage humain » (PDF, 240 Ko)
"The cultural landscape of the Loire – The Loire, a river with a human face"
Revue 303 n°75 (4º trimestre 2002):
«Paysages culturels du Val de Loire» - Coyaud (Louis-Marie)
"Cultural landscapes of the Val de Loire"
World Heritage Review no. 26 (July 2002):
"The Loire Valley - a river with a human face"
What changes as a result of inclusion on the list?
Inclusion on the list does not entail any new or additional supranational constraints in relation to the legislation and regulations in force in the country concerned, which remain solely applicable. France already has a considerable number of regulations regarding monumental heritage, sites and natural areas.
Although UNESCO does not, in principle, finance projects in "World Heritage" areas, listing can be a major argument for attracting other potential funding sources.
On the other hand, inclusion means that all the key players involved in the management of the Val de Loire will have to take their share of responsibility. The national governments who signed the Convention on World Heritage are obliged to report regularly to UNESCO about the conditions under which the site is being managed and how the criteria for which the site was included are being met.
It is through the Val de Loire – World Heritage charter of commitment that all the key players in the Loire area can make a public commitment to the values implied by inclusion on the list of World Heritage sites. The aim of this is to keep in mind the basis for inclusion and its implications. The charter provides details of the management and development system that has been set up, and could in some sense be called a code of conduct.
The commitments are as follows:
- Contribute to the development and promotion of the UNESCO Val de Loire - World Heritage site, while respecting the integrity of the landscape
- Increase the appeal of the Val de Loire – World Heritage site and brand
- Use the UNESCO quality label, with the support of the Val de Loire Mission
- Consult the various institutional partners to set up an ongoing exchange of information
- Take part in joint initiatives with local government authorities from the other listed sites
- Develop programmes of activities which highlight the importance of the natural environment and built heritage, in order to educate and raise awareness among schoolchildren, and to provide information to the general public
Download the Charter of Commitment (PDF, 200 Kb, in French)
What are the issues around inclusion on the list?
The main issues around inclusion can be defined as follows:
- Assimilating the values that underpin inclusion by local players and residents in the Val de Loire
- Prudent management of the Val de Loire – World Heritage quality label on behalf of central government (the label is registered as a trademark with the French National Institute for Intellectual Property – INPI)
- Sustainable development of the Val de Loire, combining environmental and landscape protection with heritage mediation and economic development
- International cooperation and solidarity
- Knowledge sharing and international promotion of the expertise of the Val de Loire
The aim of inclusion on the list is not to set in stone the Val de Loire as it is today, but to preserve and strengthen the exceptional nature of this living cultural landscape, whose landscape and economic development must be pursued within the framework of a sustainable process that will act as a guarantor of its authenticity. The Plan Loire Grandeur Nature, the management plan for the river drawn up in 1994 and revised in 2000 and 2007, exemplifies this perfectly.