The Cher is a river in central France, 368 km long, which is a left-hand tributary of the Loire. The Cher department has been named after the river since 1790.
Cher rises on the Combrailles plateau in the French Central Highlands and flows northwards, turning west at Vierzon and joining the Loire near Villandry. The river flows through the departments of Creuse, Puy-de-Dôme, Allier, Cher, Loir-et-Cher, Indre and Indre-et-Loire, and the major towns of Montluçon, Saint-Amand-Montrond, Saint-Florent-sur-Cher, Vierzon, Montrichard, Bléré and Tours are located on the river. The longest tributaries are the Tardes and Arnon on the left and the Aumance, Yèvre and Sauldre on the right.
Geographical features of the Cher River
river was formed during the Pleistocene period. Its name comes from the Indo-European root Kʰar (stone). The amount of water undergoes considerable seasonal fluctuations; floods are relatively frequent, the largest occurring in 1856 and 1940. River Cher’s course in Tours was regulated in the 1960s to prevent flooding. An architectural rarity is the Chateau Chenonceau, built on a bridge over the river.
During the Second World War, part of the river formed the border between German-occupied territory and Vichy France.
History
In the early Middle Ages, Cher was called Caris after Gregory of Tours, Cares after Venance Fortunatus, both in the 6th century. This name is thought to have originated from the pre-Celtic root kar, meaning stone.
The Cher Valley was formed in the Lower Pleistocene, a period from 2.5 million to 780,000 BC.
It was a frontier. Between 1940 and 1943, a demarcation line followed this river for about 120 kilometres. The gallery of the Chateau Chenonceau allowed secret passages into the southern zone.
The river gave its hydronym to the twenty-one municipalities of Athée-sur-Cher, Azay-sur-Cher, Châteauneuf-sur-Cher, Châtillon-sur-Cher, Châtres-sur-Cher, Crézançay-sur-Cher, Faverolles-sur-Cher, Langon-sur-Cher, Mareuil-sur-Cher, Mennetou-sur-Cher, Méry-sur-Cher, Monthou-sur-Cher, Montrichard Val de Cher, Noyers-sur-Cher, Saint-Florent-sur-Cher, Saint-Georges-sur-Cher, Saint-Julien-sur-Cher, Saint-Romain-sur-Cher, Selles-sur-Cher, Villefranche-sur-Cher and Villeneuve-sur-Cher.
Natural environment
The Cher, from the downstream of the Prat dam to its confluence with the Loire and from its source to the Rochebut reservoir, is included in Schedule 1 of Article L. 214-17 of the Loire-Bretagne Environment Act. As a consequence of this classification, no permit or concession can be granted for the construction of new waterworks if it would constitute an obstacle to ecological continuity, and the renewal of the concession or permit for existing waterworks is subject to requirements that make it possible to maintain the very good ecological status of the water.
The river is classified in category 1 in the departments of Allier (except upstream of the Ceylat bridge (RD 50, communes of Teillet and Mazirat) and from the Rochebut dam to the Lavault-Sainte-Anne mill), Creuse (except Rochebut dam, downstream of the Ceylat bridge (CD 20), commune of Evaux) and Puy-de-Dôme. For the rest of its course, it falls into the second category.
