Loches

St. Antoine Tower, and the Château de Loches in the background

Coat of arms

Loches

Location within Centre-Val de Loire region

Loches

Coordinates: 47°07′45″N 0°59′46″E / 47.1292°N 0.9961°ECoordinates: 47°07′45″N 0°59′46″E / 47.1292°N 0.9961°E

Country

Loches

Government

• Mayor (2014-2020)

Marc Angenault

Area¹

27.06 km² (10.45 sq mi)

Population (2013)²

6,343

• Density

230/km² (610/sq mi)

Time zone

CET (UTC+1)

• Summer (DST)

CEST (UTC+2)

INSEE/Postal code

37132 / 37600

Elevation

64–147 m (210–482 ft)

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

²Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Loches (French pronunciation: [lɔʃ]) is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France.

It is situated 29 miles (47 km) southeast of Tours by railway, on the left bank of the Indre River.

Loches (the Roman Leucae) 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.

The 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 13 ft (4 m) thick, and consisting of the old collegiate church of St Ours, the royal lodge and the donjon or keep.

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Wikipedia