Loches 5.17

Loches is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.It is situated 29mi southeast of Tours by railway, on the left bank of the Indre River.HistoryLoches grew up around a monastery founded about 500 by St. Ours and belonged to the Counts of Anjou from 886 until 1205. In the latter year it was seized from King John of England by Philip Augustus, and from the middle of the 13th century until after the time of Charles IX of France the castle was a residence of the kings of France, apart for a brief interlude in 1424 when it was heritably granted to Archibald Douglas, Duke of Touraine. Antoine Guenand, Lord of La Celle-Guenand was appointed Captain-Governor of Loches in 1441.SightsThe town, one of the most picturesque in central France, lies at the foot of the rocky eminence on which stands the Château de Loches, the castle of the Anjou family, surrounded by an outer wall 13ft thick, and consisting of the old collegiate church of St Ours, the royal lodge and the donjon or keep.