Royal City of Loches

The Royal City of Loches stands on a rocky spur above the River Indre, a walled medieval town with two great monuments side by side: the Logis Royal, a royal residence, and the Donjon, one of the best-preserved Romanesque keeps in Europe. It is the lesser-known cousin of Chenonceau and Chambord, and many visitors find it the more atmospheric because it is quieter and still feels like a working town. The keep dates from the early eleventh century and is attributed to Foulques Nerra, Count of Anjou, a formidable builder of castles. The Logis Royal was home to Charles VII and later Anne of Brittany, and inside you can see the Gothic apartments, the oratory of Anne of Brittany and the tomb of Agnès Sorel, mistress of Charles VII and often called the first recognised royal favourite of France. It was also at Loches that Joan of Arc urged Charles VII to go to Reims for his coronation after the victory at Orléans. The citadel later served as a state prison, and the visit includes dungeons and the Martelet, where Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, ended his days. Loches is about forty kilometres from Tours, easy to reach by car and a fine addition to a day built around the southern Touraine.

Begin with the Logis Royal, because it is the more intimate half of the visit. The building is two buildings in effect: a medieval wing from the time of Charles VII and a later wing from the era of Anne of Brittany. You pass through rooms with fireplaces, tapestries and carved ceilings, and the little oratory of Anne of Brittany is covered in the ermine tails that were her emblem.

The tomb of Agnès Sorel, in white marble with two lambs at her feet, is the quiet centrepiece, and her story adds a human dimension to a monument that could otherwise feel distant.

The Donjon is the big architectural set piece. Climb the keep and the connected tower to see the rooms, the walls and the narrow stairs, and look out from the ramparts across the rooftops of Loches and the valley of the Indre. The dungeons below tell a harder story, with the cells and the Martelet prison where state prisoners were held, including Ludovico Sforza, who is said to have painted the walls of his cell.

Take your time over the exhibits, which explain the building phases, and watch your head and your footing on the stairs, which are steep and uneven.

Give yourself half a day. The visit to both monuments takes about two to three hours, and the medieval town around them rewards a slow stroll through its gates, lanes and small squares, with places to stop for lunch. An optional augmented-reality tablet is sold with tickets to help picture the lost interiors.

Loches is best by car, though regional connections exist from Tours. Wrap up well in winter, because the keep is cold and exposed, and check the hours for your date, since the city keeps shorter hours in low season. Pair it with Chinon or Ussé if you want to build a day around the quieter side of the Loire.