Vienne (river)

The Vienne (Occitan: Vinhana) is one of the most important rivers in south-western France, a significant left tributary of the lower Loire. It supports numerous hydro-electric dams, and it is the main river of the Limousin region and also of the eastern part of the Poitou-Charentes region.

Two French départements are named after the Vienne: the Haute-Vienne (87) in the Limousin region and the Vienne (86) in the Poitou-Charentes region.

Course

The Vienne rises as a spring in the department of the Corrèze, at the foot of Mont Audouze, on the Plateau de Millevaches, near Peyrelevade. It then flows roughly west to the city of Limoges where it once played a major role in the famous Limoges porcelain industry. A little way after Limoges it takes a turn to the north. En route to its confluence with the Loire, the Vienne is joined by the rivers Creuse and Clain. Finally, after a journey of 372 km it reaches the Loire at Candes-Saint-Martin in the department of Indre-et-Loire.

The Vienne flows through the following départements and towns:

Vienne

Vienne (French pronunciation: ​[vjɛn]) is a department in the Aquitaine-Limousin-Poitou-Charentes region of France named after the river Vienne.

History

Vienne is one of the original 83 departments, established on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Poitou, Touraine and Berry, until the 15th century part of the Duchy of Aquitaine.

The original Acadians, who settled in Nova Scotia and what are today other maritime provinces of Canada, left Vienne for North America after 1604. Kennedy (2014) argues that the emigrants carried to Canada their customs and social structure. They were frontier peoples, who dispersed their settlements based on kinship. They optimized use of farmland and emphasized trading for a profit. They were hierarchical and politically active.

Politics

Édith Cresson, France's first woman Prime Minister from 1991-1992, was a deputy (MP) for the department.

It has three arrondissements : Poitiers, the prefecture, and the subprefectures Châtellerault and Montmorillon.

Vienne, Isère

Vienne is a commune in southeastern France, located 32 kilometres (20 mi) south of Lyon, on the river Rhône. It is the fourth largest city after Grenoble in the Isère department, of which it is a subprefecture.

Before the arrival of the Roman armies, Vienne was the capital city of the Allobroges, a Gallic people. Transformed into a Roman colony in 47 BCE under Julius Caesar, Vienne became a major urban center, ideally located along the Rhône, then a major axis of communication. The town later became a Roman provincial capital. Numerous remains of Roman constructions are still visible in modern Vienne. The town was also an important early bishopric in Christian Gaul. Its most famous bishop was Avitus of Vienne. At the Council of Vienne, convened there in October 1311, Pope Clement V abolished the order of the Knights Templar. During the Middle Ages, Vienne was part of the kingdom of Provence, dependent on the Holy Roman Empire, while the opposite bank of the Rhône was French territory, thus making it a strategic position.

Vienne (disambiguation)

Vienne can refer to: