Musée du Vieux Loches

Loches is a small town on the Indre river, in the south of the Touraine, and its upper town, the Cité Royale, is one of the best-preserved medieval fortified towns in the Loire Valley. A local history museum in such a place has a lot to draw on, since the history of Loches is bound up with the kings of France, and a visit to the museum helps to make sense of the monuments on the hill. The museum presents the story of the town and its surroundings, the Lochois, through objects, documents and traditions, and it is a quiet, local stop.

The Cité Royale stands on a rocky spur above the river, within a long circuit of walls. Its most striking monument is the Château de Loches, with its great keep, the donjon, built in the early eleventh century by Fulk Nerra, Count of Anjou, one of the most ambitious castle builders of the Middle Ages. The keep, about thirty-six metres high, is among the oldest and best-preserved in Europe, and the other parts of the castle include the Martelet, a prison where Ludovic Sforza, Duke of Milan, was held until his death in 1508. Next to the keep stands the Logis Royal, a residence of the kings of France in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries, where Charles VII lived and where Joan of Arc came to meet him in 1429, after the relief of Orléans, to urge him to go to Reims for his coronation. The Logis holds the tomb of Agnès Sorel, the king's favourite, who is often considered the first official royal mistress.

The Collégiale Saint-Ours, a Romanesque church with an unusual vault in the form of two stone pyramids, is another highlight, and the Porte Royale, the main gate of the Cité, leads to the old streets lined with houses of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. Below, the lower town has the Tour Saint-Antoine, a Renaissance clock tower, the Porte des Cordeliers and a pleasant promenade along the river. The Musée Lansyer, devoted to the nineteenth-century painter Emmanuel Lansyer, a native of Loches, shows his landscapes and his collection. The market, held on Wednesday and Saturday mornings, is one of the most lively in the region.

A local museum typically shows the objects of everyday life in the area: tools, clothing, furniture, documents and craft products, with displays on the town's trades and its relationship to the countryside. The Touraine is known for its crafts, and visitors may find items that recall the work of weavers, potters and farmers. Museums of this kind are often housed in old buildings and have limited opening hours, particularly outside the summer season, so it is advisable to consult the tourist office for current times and admission charges.

Loches suits visitors who like small historic towns with a strong sense of the past. Allow a day to see the royal city, the museums and the old streets. The town is about forty kilometres south of Tours, and it can be combined with other Loire sights such as the château of Chenonceau. Wear comfortable shoes, as the streets of the Cité slope steeply and are cobbled.