INDRE  , a

department of central France, formed in 1790 from parts of the old provinces of Berry, Orleanais, Marche and Touraine . Pop . (1906) 290,216, Area 2666 sq. m . It is bounded N. by the department of Loir-et-Cher, E. by Cher, S. by Creuse and Haute-Vienne, S.W. by Vienne and N.W. by Indre-et-Loire . It takes its name from the river Indre, which flows through it . The surface forms a vast plateau divided into three districts, the Boischaut, Champagne and Brenne . The Boischaut is a large well-wooded plain comprising seven-tenths of the entire area and covering the south, east and centre of the department . The Champagne, a monotonous but fertile district iI} the north, produces abundant cereal crops, and affords excellent pasturage for large numbers of sheep, celebrated for the fineness of their wool . The Brenne, which occupies the west of the department, was formerly marshy and unhealthy, but draining and afforestation have brought about considerable improvement . The department is divided into the arrondissements of Chateauroux, Le Blanc, La Chatre and Issoudun, with 23 cantons and 245 communes . At Neuvy-St-Sepulchre there is a circular church of the 11th century, to which a nave was addedin the 12th century, and at Mezieres-en-Brenne there is an interesting church of the 14th century . At Levroux there is a fine church of the 13th century and the remains of a feudal fortress, and there is a magnificent chateau in the Renaissance style at Valencay .

INDRE-ET-LOIRE, a department of central France, consisting of nearly the whole of the old

province of Touraine and of small portions of Orleanais, Anjou and Poitou . Pop . (1906) 337,916 . Area 2377 sq. m . It is bounded N. by the departments of Sarthe and Loir-et-Cher, E. by Loir-et-Cher and Indre, S. and S.W. by Vienne and W. by Maine-et-Loire . It takes its name from the Loire and its tributary the Indre, which enter it on its eastern border and unite not far from its western border . The other chief affluents of the Loire in the department are the Cher, which joins it below Tours, and the Vienne, which waters the department's southern region . Indre-et-Loire is generally level and comprises the following districts: the Gatine, a pebbly and sterile region to the north of the Loire, largely consisting of forests and heaths with numerous small lakes; the fertile Varenne or valley of the Loire; the Champeigne, a chain of vine-clad slopes, separating the valleys of the Cher and Indre; the Veron, a region of vines and orchards, in the angle formed by the Loire and Vienne; the plateau of Sainte-Maure, a hilly and unproductive district in the centre of which are found extensive deposits of shell-marl; and in the south the Brenne, traversed by the Claise and the Creuse and forming part of the marshy territory which extends under the same name into Indre . Indre-et-Loire is divided into the arrondissements of Tours, I.oches and Chinon; with 24 cantons and 282 communes . The chief town is Tours, which is the seat of an archbishopric; and Chinon, Loches, Amboise, Chenonceaux, Langeais and Azayle-Rideau are also important places with chateaus . The Renaissance chateau of Usse, and those of Luynes (15th and 16th centuries) and Pressigny-le-Grand (17th century) are also of note . Montbazon possesses the imposing ruins of a square donjon of the 11th and lath centuries .

Preuilly has the most beautiful Romanesque church in Touraine . The Sainte Chapelle (16th century) at Champigny is a survival of a chateau of the

dukes of Bourbon-Montpensier . The church of Montresor (1532) with its mausoleum of the family of Montresor; that of St Denis-Hors (12th and 16th century) close to Amboise, with the curious mausoleum of Philibert Babou, minister of finance under Francis I. and Henry II.; and that of Ste Catherine de Fierbois, of the 15th century, are of architectural interest . The town of Richelieu, founded in 1631 by the famous minister of Louis XIIL,preserves the enceinte and many of the buildings of the 17th century . Megalithic monuments are numerous in the department .