Owner in France
The LLoire valley is the largest area of land in France to feature on the UNESCO list. The territory is of one piece, stretching from Sully-sur-Loire in the department of Loiret as far as Chalonnes-sur-Loire in the department of Maine-et-Loire. 280 km from end to end, it covers an area of around 800 km2. The LLoire valley, between Sully-sur-Loire and Maine-et-Loire was one of the most important cultural centres in Renaissance Europe - a meeting place for influences from Italy, France and Flanders, a region which saw emerge the landscape civilisation of the modern world. First French, then European, this civilisation produced some of the most fully-realised models of such landscapes.