Coulanges

An ecclesiastical foundation in the 12th century would justify the etymology of "colonia", land cleared in the Blémars forest. The parish may have been named "Saint Denys en Blaisois" (stained-glass window of Saint-Denis de Coulanges by L. Lobin, Tours 1872) before the revolutionaries dubbed it a "Cou-sans-culotte".

The old farms of La Plaine (Ferme de la Chesnaie) are the remains of seigneurial houses or property confiscated from the nearby Guiche abbey (Miséricorde de stalle de la Guiche). The Boutinière barn and hayloft, and the upper house of the Grand' Porte still bear witness to the town's ancient architecture.
But the economic riches of the past have faded: the vineyards now have only the walls of the closeries; the bleaching of cloth, the freshness of the meadows; the tenant farms, the slopes of the cultivated ponds; the limestone, the ruins of the kilns.

Water is present everywhere, in the form of pump or wheel wells, springs and fountains, the restored washhouse in the heart of the village, and of course the many water sources.and, of course, the river Cisse, along which it's pleasant to stroll from one mill to the next (Moulin Jouan).

This small local heritage cannot compete with the two châteaux, the "Italian villa" at Beaujour and the domaine de Rocon (visible from the Chambon-sur-Cisse hillside).

There's no shortage of illustrious names: Florimond de Beaune (1601-1652), a mathematician and friend of Descartes; François Fourré, a jurist who studied the customs of Blois; Edward William Trafford, an English mé(Château de Beaujour), who financed the church, and the famous Law de Lauriston family (Château de Rocon).

Find out more at the town hall (mairie-école). This is the headquarters of "Vallée de la Cisse", the more than 50-year-old journal of local history.

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