Les Roches-l'Évêque () is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Loir-et-Cher Loir-et-Cher (, ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of France. Its name is originated from two rivers which cross it, the Loir in its northern part and the Cher in its southern part. Its prefecture is Blois. The INSEE and La P ...

department Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

in central

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Located in the north-west of the department, the town is part of the small agricultural region "the Valley and Coteaux du Loir", bordered to the north by a steep hill and to the south by gently sloping hillsides. It is drained by the Fargot and by two small rivers. With an area of 0.93 square miles in 2017, the town is one of the two smallest towns in the department. Land use is marked by the importance of agricultural and natural spaces which occupy almost all of the municipal territory. A natural area of interest is present in the town: a natural area of ecological, faunistic and floristic interest (ZNIEFF). In 2010, the technico-economic orientation of agriculture in the town is the cultivation of

cereals A cereal is any grass cultivated for the edible components of its grain (botanically, a type of fruit called a caryopsis), composed of the endosperm, germ, and bran. Cereal grain crops are grown in greater quantities and provide more food en ...

and

oilseeds Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or fat ...

. Like the department which has seen a quarter of its farms disappear in ten years, the number of farms has fallen sharply, from 7 in 1988, to 5 in 2000, then to 0 in 2010. Its inhabitants are called Rupiepiscopians. The architectural heritage of the town includes two buildings included in the inventory of historical monuments: the chapel of Saint-Gervais des Roches-l'Évêque, classified in 1943, and the church of Saint-Almire des Roches-l'Évêque, listed in 1971.

Location and neighboring towns

The commune of Les Roches-l'Évêque is located in the north-west of the department of

, in the small agricultural region of the Vallée et Coteaux du

Loir The Loir () is a long river in western France. It is a left tributary of the Sarthe. Its source is in the Eure-et-Loir department, north of Illiers-Combray. It joins the river Sarthe in Briollay, north of the city of Angers. It is indirectly a ...

. As the crow flies, it is 38.7 km from

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the most populated city of the ...

, the

prefecture A prefecture (from the Latin ''Praefectura'') is an administrative jurisdiction traditionally governed by an appointed prefect. This can be a regional or local government subdivision in various countries, or a subdivision in certain international ...

of the department, 13.4 km from

Vendôme Vendôme (, ) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Departments of France, department of Loir-et-Cher, France. It is also the department's third-biggest Communes of France, commune with 15,856 inhabitants (2019). It is one of the ...

, sub-prefecture, and 3.2 km from

Montoire-sur-le-Loir Montoire-sur-le-Loir (, literally ''Montoire on the Loir''), commonly known as Montoire, is a commune near Vendôme, in the Loir-et-Cher department in Centre-Val de Loire, France. History Montoire-sur-le-Loir is known as the location where, ...

, administrative center of the canton of Montoire-sur-le-Loir on which the village has been dependent since 2015. The nearest towns are: Villavard (2.2 km),

Saint-Rimay Saint-Rimay () is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France. Population See also *Communes of the Loir-et-Cher department The following is a list of the 267 communes of the Loir-et-Cher department of France. The commune ...

(2.8 km),

(3.2 km), Lavardin (3.7 km),

Lunay Lunay () is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France. Geography Lunay is located west of the city of Vendôme, in the northwest of the ''département'' and 180 km southwest of Paris. The river Loir flows along the east an ...

(4.3 km), Houssay (4.3 km),

Fontaine-les-Coteaux Fontaine-les-Coteaux () is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France. Population Sights * Arboretum de la Fosse See also *Communes of the Loir-et-Cher department The following is a list of the 267 communes of the Loir-et ...

(5.4 km),

Thoré-la-Rochette Thoré-la-Rochette () is a commune of the Loir-et-Cher department in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Loir-et-Cher department The following is a list of the 267 communes of the Loir-et-Cher department of France. The ...

(5.7 km) and

Mazangé Mazangé () is a commune in the Loir-et-Cher department of central France. Population See also *Communes of the Loir-et-Cher department The following is a list of the 267 communes of the Loir-et-Cher department of France. The communes co ...

(6.8 km).

Landscapes and terrain

The landscapes of the loops of the

present a certain complexity: while the upstream part of the valley presents a calm and a serenity, near Les Roches, the Loir twists in tight meanders, restricted by a terrain marked by steep hillsides.

Tuffeau Tuffeau stone — in French, simply ''tuffeau'' or ''tufeau'' — is a local limestone of the Loire Valley of France. It is characterized as a chalky or sandy, fine-grained limestone, white to yellowish-cream in appearance, and micaceous (cont ...

, which has replaced the soft clay of the

Perche Perche () (French: ''le Perche'') is a former province of France, known historically for its forests and, for the past two centuries, for the Percheron draft horse breed. Until the French Revolution, Perche was bounded by four ancient territorie ...

, marks the landscape, with its white, sandy or ochre colors appearing on the cliffs weathered by the river. The altitude of the village location ranges from 66 meters to 134 meters.