The Vienne is a river in France, one of the main tributaries of the Loire. Starting at 920m on Millevaches plateau in Corrèze, it begins to rise. It is a left-hand tributary of the Loire, which it joins at Candes-Saint-Martin (Indre-et-Loire) at an altitude of 27 m. Is 372 km long. The most important of its tributaries is the Creuse.
It flows through the departments of Corrèze, Haute-Vienne, Charente, Vienne and Indre-et-Loire and, for a short stretch, forms the border between the Creuse and Haute-Vienne. The main towns it passes through are Limoges, Confolens, L’Isle-Jourdain, Chavingy, Châtellerault and Chinon.
Migratory fish such as ling, eel and salmon are found here. It is navigable for 83 kilometres, from Chitré to its mouth, without locks. It is used to cool the Civaux nuclear power station.
Etymology
By analogy with Vière (Vigera in 878), Voire (Vigera in 673), Ernest Nègre places Vienne, like Vingeanne, Vincene in 613, in a small group of pre-Celtic hydronymic names formed on the radical *vig-, with the pre-Celtic suffix -ara for the first two and the Gaulish or pre-Celtic suffix -enna for Vienne and Vingeanne.
The *vig- radical hypothesis was taken up by Marcel Villoutreix for Vienne and for the Taurion tributary, Vige, Vigiae in 811.
It should be noted that the Vienne, a river in the department of Seine-Maritime, has an identical ancient form, since in the Middle Ages it was called Vigenna.
Geography
The river rises in Corrèze, on the Millevaches plateau, from four or five small streams at the foot of Mount Audouze, at an altitude of 860 to 895 metres, between the communes of Saint-Setiers, Millevaches and Peyrelevade.
It flows 372 km downstream into the Loire at Candes-Saint-Martin.
Other places with a cross
Three regional nature parks: Millevaches en Limousin Regional Nature Park, Périgord Limousin Regional Nature Park, Loire-Anjou-Touraine Regional Nature Park.
One nuclear power plant, Civaux.
Nine towns with more than 5 000 inhabitants are connected: Panazol, Limoges, Isle, Saint-Junien, Chauvigny, Châtellerault and Chinon.
