Loches
Loches | |
|---|---|
 St. Antoine Tower with theChâteau de Lochesin the background | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Loches  | |
  Loches  Loches | |
| Coordinates:47°07′45″N0°59′46″E/ 47.1292°N 0.9961°E | |
| Country | France |
| Region | Centre-Val de Loire |
| Department | Indre-et-Loire |
| Arrondissement | Loches |
| Canton | Loches |
| Intercommunality | CC Loches Sud Touraine |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–2026) | Marc Angenault[1] |
| Area 1 | 27.06 km2(10.45 sq mi) |
| Population (2021)[2] | 6,180 |
| • Density | 230/km2(590/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00(CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00(CEST) |
| INSEE/Postal code | 37132/37600 |
| Elevation | 64–147 m (210–482 ft) |
| 1French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2(0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries. | |
Loches(French pronunciation:[lɔʃ];/loʊʃ/) is acommunein thedepartmentofIndre-et-Loire,Centre-Val de Loire,France.
It is situated 42 kilometres (26 mi)[3]southeast ofToursby road, on the left bank of the riverIndre.
History
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Loches (the RomanLeucae) grew up around amonasteryfounded about 500 by St. Ours and belonged to theCounts of Anjoufrom 886 until 1205. In the latter year it was seized fromKing John of EnglandbyPhilip Augustus,and from the middle of the 13th century until after the time ofCharles IX of Francethe castle was a residence of the kings ofFrance,apart for a brief interlude in 1424 when it was heritably granted toArchibald Douglas, Duke of Touraine.Antoine Guenand, Lord ofLa Celle-Guenandwas appointed Captain-Governor of Loches in 1441.
Population
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| Source: EHESS[4]and INSEE (1968-2017)[5] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sights
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The town, one of the most picturesque in centralFrance,lies at the foot of the rocky eminence on which stands theChâteau de Loches,the castle of theAnjoufamily, surrounded by an outer wall 4 m (13 ft) thick, and consisting of the oldcollegiate churchof St Ours, the royal lodge and thedonjonor keep.
The church of St Ours dates from the tenth century to the twelfth century; among its distinguishing features are the huge stonepyramidssurmounting thenaveand the beautiful carving of the west door. It contains the tomb ofAgnès Sorel.
The royal lodge, built byCharles VII of Franceand once used as the subprefecture, contains theoratoryofAnne of Brittany.It was here on 11 May 1429 thatJoan of Arcarrived, fresh from her historic victory at Orleans, to meet the king.
Thedonjonincludes, besides the ruinedkeep(12th century), the Martelet, celebrated as theprisonofLodovico Sforza,Duke of Milan,who died there in 1508, and the Tour Ronde, built byLouis XI of Franceand containing the famousironcages in which state prisoners, including according to a story now discredited, the inventorCardinal Balue,were confined.
Loches has a town hall and several houses of theRenaissanceperiod. The town hall was constructed after royal approval by Francis 1st in 1515.
On the rightbankof theIndre,opposite the town, is the village ofBeaulieu-lès-Loches,once the seat of abarony.
Economy
[edit]Liquor,distillingandtanningare carried on together with trade in farm produce,wine,woodandlivestock.
Notable people
[edit]Loches was the birthplace of:
- Fulk III, Count of Anjou(970–1040), one of the first great builders of medieval castles.[6]
- Nicolas Barthélemy de Loches(1478–after 1537), Benedictine monk
- Alfred de Vigny(1797–1863),poet,playwright,andnovelist.[7]
- Pierre Nicolas Gerdy(1797–1856), French physician, surgeon, anatomist, pathologist and physiologist,
- Ernest Christophe(1827–1892),sculptor,François Rude's student and a friend ofBaudelaire,
- Jacques Villeret(1951–2005),actor.
International relations
[edit]Loches is twinned with:
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^"Répertoire national des élus: les maires".data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises(in French). 2 December 2020.
- ^"Populations légales 2021"(in French).The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies.28 December 2023.
- ^maps.google.fr
- ^Des villages de Cassini aux communes d'aujourd'hui:Commune data sheet Loches,EHESS(in French).
- ^"Évolution et structure de la population en 2017 − Recensement de la population – Résultats pour toutes les communes, départements, régions, intercommunalités... | Insee".insee.fr.Retrieved19 February2023.
- ^Halphen, Louis(1911)..Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 11 (11th ed.). p. 294.
- ^Saintsbury, George(1911)..Encyclopædia Britannica.Vol. 28 (11th ed.). pp. 61–62.
- ^"St Andrews twinning pact signed in saint's celebrations - Fife Today".fifetoday.co.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 8 December 2015.
External links
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