Sologne a region of north-central France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 extending over portions of the départements of Loiret

Loiret

Loiret is a department in north-central FranceThe department is named after the river Loiret, a tributary of the Loire. The Loiret is located wholly within the department.- History :...

, Loir-et-Cher

Loir-et-Cher

Loir-et-Cher is a département in north-central France named after the rivers Loir and Cher.-History:Loir-et-Cher is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on 4 March 1790. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Orléanais and...

 and Cher. Its area is about 5000 square kilometres (1,930.5 sq mi), and its boundaries are on the north the river Loire, on the south the Cher and on the east the districts of Sancerre

Sancerre

Sancerre is a medieval hilltop town , commune and canton in the Cher department of central France overlooking the Loire River. It is noted for its wine.-History:...

 and Berry

Berry (province)

Berry is a region located in the center of France. It was a province of France until the provinces were replaced by départements on 4 March 1790....

.

Geography

The Sologne is watered by the Cosson

Cosson

The Cosson is a long river in central France, right tributary of the river Beuvron. Its source is near the village Vannes-sur-Cosson, in Sologne. The Cosson flows through the following departments and communes:...

 and the Beuvron

Beuvron (Loire)

The Beuvron is a river in central France, left tributary of the river Loire. Its source is near the village Coullons, southwest of Gien. The Beuvron flows generally west through the following départements and towns:* Loiret: Cerdon...

, tributaries of the Loire, and the Sauldre

Sauldre

The Sauldre is a river in central France, right tributary of the river Cher. Its source is near the village Montigny, southwest of Sancerre. The Sauldre flows generally northwest through the following départements and towns:...

, an affluent of the Cher

Cher River

The Cher is a river in central France, left tributary to the river Loire. Its source is in the Creuse département, north-east of Crocq. It joins the river Loire in Villandry, west of Tours....

, all three having a west-south-westerly direction. The pools and marshes which are characteristic of the region are due to the impermeability of its soil, which is a mixture of sand and clay.

The main towns of Sologne are:

• Romorantin-Lanthenay
  Romorantin-Lanthenay
  Romorantin-Lanthenay is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France.-History:The current commune is the result of the merger, on 29 May 1961, of the former communes of Romorantin and Lanthenay.-Transportation:...
  
  
• La Ferté-Saint-Aubin
  La Ferté-Saint-Aubin
  La Ferté-Saint-Aubin is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France.-See also:*Communes of the Loiret department*Sologne...
  
  
• Salbris
  Salbris
  Salbris is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France....
  
  
• Lamotte-Beuvron
  Lamotte-Beuvron
  Lamotte-Beuvron is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France. The town is located in Sologne on the banks of the Beuvron river.Lamotte-Beuvron is served by the A71 autoroute and the Route nationale 20.-See also:* Tarte Tatin...
  
  
• Aubigny-sur-Nère
  Aubigny-sur-Nère
  Aubigny-sur-Nère is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre region of France.-Geography:An area of forestry and farming surrounding a small light industrial town, situated in the valley of the river Nère some north of Bourges at the junction of the D940, D924, D30 and the D923...
  
  

History

In the middle of the 19th century Napoleon III

Napoleon III of France

Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte was the President of the French Second Republic and as Napoleon III, the ruler of the Second French Empire. He was the nephew and heir of Napoleon I, christened as Charles Louis Napoléon Bonaparte...

 led the way in the reclamation of swamps, the planting of pines and other trees and other improvements. Arable farming and stock-raising are fairly flourishing in the Sologne, but there is little manufacturing activity, the cloth manufacture of Romorantin

Romorantin-Lanthenay

Romorantin-Lanthenay is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France.-History:The current commune is the result of the merger, on 29 May 1961, of the former communes of Romorantin and Lanthenay.-Transportation:...

 being the chief industry. Game is abundant, and the region owes much of its revived prosperity to the creation of large sporting estates.

Cultural references

In the early 18th century, Jean-Philippe Rameau

Jean-Philippe Rameau

Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François...

 composed a famous harpsichord piece, Les Niais de Sologne, whose name translates as "the simpletons of Sologne". The form is a rondo

Rondo

Rondo, and its French equivalent rondeau, is a word that has been used in music in a number of ways, most often in reference to a musical form, but also to a character-type that is distinct from the form...

 with two episodes that are variations on the main section. Despite the title (which may allude to the meandering melody throughout), its use of ornamentation denotes a work of great subtlety and sophistication.

The book Le Grand Meaulnes

Le Grand Meaulnes

Le Grand Meaulnes is the only novel by French author Alain-Fournier. Fifteen-year-old François Seurel narrates the story of his relationship with seventeen-year-old Augustin Meaulnes as Meaulnes searches for his lost love. Impulsive, reckless and heroic, Meaulnes embodies the romantic ideal, the...

 by Alain-Fournier

Alain-Fournier

Alain-Fournier was the pseudonym of Henri Alban-Fournier , a French author and soldier. He was the author of a single novel, Le Grand Meaulnes , which has been twice filmed and is considered a classic of French literature.-Biography:Alain-Fournier was born in La Chapelle-d'Angillon, in the Cher...

 is set in the region of Sologne and mentions several places, such as Bourges

Bourges

Bourges is a city in central France on the Yèvre river. It is the capital of the department of Cher and also was the capital of the former province of Berry.-History:...

 and Vierzon

Vierzon

Vierzon is a commune in the Cher department in the Centre region of France.-Geography:A medium-sized town by the banks of the Cher River with some light industry and an area of forestry and farming to the north...

. It is somewhere in this region where Meaulnes becomes lost and stumbles across the mysterious estate.

Also many stories and essays of Maurice Genevoix

Maurice Genevoix

Maurice Genevoix was a French author.Born on 29 November 1890 at Decize, Nièvre as Maurice-Charles-Louis-Genevoix, Genevoix spent his childhood in Châteauneuf-sur-Loire. After attending the local school, he studied at the lycée of Orléans and the Lycée Lakanal...

 are set in Sologne

Sologne

Sologne , a region of north-central France extending over portions of the départements of Loiret, Loir-et-Cher and Cher...

.