Paysages culturels du Val de Loire

Published on 30 November 2020 - Updated 04 January 2021

Inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage List is a milestone in the history of a Property, particularly when the site in question is a sweeping territory encompassing a river and its inhabited valley. Twenty years later, the time has come for the Loire Valley to take stock, around a few questions that this publication – entitled “Cultural landscapes of the Loire Valley” – seeks to address: are the reasons behind the inscription properly understood today? What significant changes has it engendered? What initiatives have emerged? And how can we consider the prospects for change and the challenges to come for this continuing riverscape?

This publication celebrates a milestone in the history of the Loire Valley World Heritage site. It looks back over the past two decades (2000 – 2020) and sketches out a bright outlook for young generations, by drawing on a range of complementary disciplines and by hearing from local stakeholders. The notion of cultural landscape is truly multifaceted in meaning, and this is highlighted and partially described here: the plural “landscapes” in the title is entirely fitting.