Cité Royale de Loches (Royal Donjon and Château)

The Cité Royale de Loches occupies a limestone promontory above the Indre river in Loches, Indre-et-Loire, comprising one of the most intact medieval fortified towns in the Loire Valley. The site divides into two distinct sections connected by a fortified wall enclosing the medieval upper town: the Château (royal lodging) at the southern end, and the Donjon (great tower-keep) at the northern end. The Donjon is the older structure, begun by Foulques Nerra, Count of Anjou, around 1013, making it one of the earliest surviving stone tower-keeps in France. It stands 37 metres tall with walls up to 3 metres thick at the base and was enlarged by Henry II of England in the 12th century, when Loches was held as part of the Angevin empire. The tower later served as a state prison under the French crown; among its most famous prisoners was Ludovico Sforza, Duke of Milan and former patron of Leonardo da Vinci, held here from 1500 to his death in 1508 after his capture by Louis XII. His graffiti—crude architectural sketches—remain faintly visible on the dungeon walls. The Château at the southern end served as a royal residence from Charles VII onward. Joan of Arc met Charles VII at Loches twice: in June 1429 to urge him toward coronation at Reims, and in 1430. The château preserves the private oratory of Anne of Brittany, decorated with carved ermine tail symbols (the Breton emblem) and sculpted kneeling figures. The citadel walls, the Donjon, and the Château are all open under a single ticket, and the view from the top of the Donjon over the Indre valley and the medieval roofscape of Loches is one of the finest in the region.