Château de Loches

The Cité royale de Loches stands on a rocky spur above the river Indre, in the Touraine, and its walls and towers dominate the roofs of the old town. The complex is made up of two main parts, the great medieval keep with its dungeons and the royal lodge, the Logis royal, and together they trace several centuries of French history. The site was fortified early because of its strategic position, and in the eleventh century Fulk Nerra, Count of Anjou, one of the great castle-builders of his time, raised the stone keep that still stands.

The keep is the main landmark. It is a massive rectangular tower more than thirty-five metres high, with thick walls supported by buttresses, a classic example of Romanesque military architecture and one of the best-preserved keeps of its age in France. The structure is divided into several floors, and its grim reputation comes from the later use of the castle as a state prison. Under Louis XI, in the fifteenth century, enemies of the crown were locked in the dungeons and the so-called Martelet, and cells with graffiti can still be seen. Cardinal Balue was held in an iron cage here, according to tradition, and Ludovico Sforza, duke of Milan, was imprisoned at Loches and died there in 1508. A visit to the keep and the dungeons gives an idea of how harsh these conditions were.

The Logis royal presents a very different side. It is a residence built in the late Middle Ages and the early Renaissance, and it was used by the kings of France, among them Charles VII, who lived here with his favourite, Agnès Sorel. Her tomb, carved in alabaster, is displayed in the lodge. The building also contains an oratory made for Anne de Bretagne, with delicate carved ornaments, and rooms with tapestries and period decoration. It was at Loches in 1429 that Joan of Arc met Charles VII after the lifting of the siege of Orléans, and urged him to go to Reims for his coronation, so the site is linked with a key moment in the Hundred Years' War.

The walls of the Cité enclose a pleasant walk. A circuit of the ramparts gives views over the town and the valley of the Indre, and the narrow streets below are lined with houses in pale tuffeau stone, craft shops and cafés. The site opens daily, with closing times that vary by season, and it is closed on a few holidays. Tickets and special passes are available, and groups and guided tours in foreign languages need to be booked ahead.

In the town, the Église Saint-Ours, with an unusual pyramid of stone vaults, the Tour Guillaume and the Musée du Vieux Loches are close by, and the Marché de Loches is held on certain mornings. The Cité suits history lovers, families and anyone touring the Loire valley.