Indre-et-Loire
Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River. In 2019, it had a population of 610,079.department in central
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
From 8 to 14 December 1947, L'Île-Bouchard was the site of
Marian apparition
A Marian apparition is a reported supernatural appearance of Mary, the mother of Jesus. While sometimes described as a type of vision, apparitions are generally regarded as external manifestations, whereas visions are more often understood as ...
s. Four girls aged 7 to 12 reported having seen the Virgin Mary and the archangel Gabriel. The site was declared an official pilgrimage of the diocese of
Tours
Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...
on 8 December 2001 by the archbishop Monseigneur André Vingt-Trois. Since 1999, priests and lay persons from Emmanuel Community have been in charge of the pilgrims.Bernard Peyrous, ''Les événements de l'Ile Bouchard.'' Editions de l'Emmanuel, Paris, 1997; Elisabeth Baranger et Bernard Peyrous, ''Les apparitions de l'Ile Bouchard'', Documents authentiques. Editions de l'Emmanuel, Paris, 2002.
Population
See also
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Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department
The following is a list of the 272 communes of the Indre-et-Loire department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):