La Creusille Harbor

La Creusille Harbor
Traditional boat of Blois
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Location
Country	France
Location	Centre-Val de Loire, Loir-et-Cher, Blois
Coordinates	47°35′13″N 1°20′42″E / 47.58689°N 1.34495°E / 47.58689; 1.34495
Details
Opened	17st century

La Creusille is a harbor on the left bank of the Loire river, located in the southern part of Blois, France.

Meaning

The word Creusille (French pronunciation: [kʁøzij]) is an old local dialect term to designate the “hollow pilgrim's scallop” (« creuse coquille du pèlerin » in French^[1]). This refers to the shell of Saint James Christian pilgrims used to wear when going to Santiago de Compostela, Spain.^[2]

History

Since the

During the Middle Ages, the river is rather different than today. Indeed, the medieval bridge was covered with houses, towers, and even a chapel. To feed 5 water mills, a 650m-long submersible dike was built in the middle of the river around the 9th century (at the latest).^[4]

Until 1606, both banks of the river were not parts of the same city, Blois. Indeed, the city was originally set up on the right bank. On the other side, this was actually a river island with a different manor that was under the Catholic Church's administration through St Saturnin parish. The island was named Insula Evenna, and the village standing there Vienne. As such, La Creusille has always been part of Vienne. Until this moment, Blois had its own harbor but it was abandoned after the addition of Vienne.^[5]

From the 17th century on,

After the fall of the medieval bridge in 1716, the port was reinforced as part of the reconstructions of the Loire levees and the construction of the new Jacques-Gabriel Bridge. All the remaining water mills were destroyed, but the submersible dike was readjusted in order to divert the river's flow to the right bank and thus away from La Creusille, making it easier to moor boats. In 1717, a dike was built in the extension of the harbor and towards the East: the operation dried up the La Bouillie river channel and thus linked the former Evenna island to the left bank.^[6]

The arrival of the

At the same time, a new activity appeared in the 19th century: sand mining. Miners extracted sand and gravel directly from the steam bed of the Loire river, but the practice was sufficiently important to lower the water line, lower the alluvial water table, dry out wetlands and cause pike spawning grounds to disappear. Mining in Blois was therefore naturally abolished in 1995.^[8]

Traditional boats

• 
  Scow in Chaumont-sur-Loire
• 
  Fustereau in La Creusille Harbor
• 
  Cabanee toue in Cosne-Cours-sur-Loire

Today's La Creusille

Since the year 2000, La Creusille is part of the UNESCO's World Heritage sites in France.^[9]

Today, the port has given way to an urban park on the left bank of the Loire river, complete with a leisure area. Accessible by car, the park has a parking area, a playground, picnic areas, a ping-pong table, a self-service library and a boulodrome, and provides free access to drinking water and electricity.^[10]

The park is located on the route of La Loire à vélo and the European Rivers Route (EV6).^[11]

Since 2010, a guinguette animates the park in summer.^[12]

La Creusille also hosts the Loire Observatory, which offers traditional boat trips on the river.^[13]

References