View source for Loches

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{distinguish|Lochs}}
{{Infobox French commune
|name                   = Loches
|commune status         = [[Subprefectures in France|Subprefecture]] and [[Communes of France|commune]]
|image                  = Loches Marché-aux-Fleurs.jpg
|caption                = St. Antoine Tower with the [[Château de Loches]] in the background
|image coat of arms     = Blason ville fr Loches (Indre-et-Loire).svg
|arrondissement         = Loches
|canton                 = Loches
|intercommunality       = [[Communauté de communes Loches Sud Touraine|CC Loches Sud Touraine]]
|mayor                  = Marc Angenault<ref>{{cite web|title=Répertoire national des élus: les maires|url=https://www.data.gouv.fr/fr/datasets/r/2876a346-d50c-4911-934e-19ee07b0e503|website=data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises|date=2 December 2020|language=fr}}</ref>
|term                   = 2020&ndash;2026
|coordinates            = {{coord|47.1292|0.9961|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|elevation m            =
|elevation min m        = 64
|elevation max m        = 147
|area km2               = 27.06
|population             = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_total}}
|population date        = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_as_of}}
|population footnotes   = {{France metadata Wikidata|population_footnotes}}
|INSEE                  = 37132
|postal code            = 37600
}}
'''Loches''' ({{IPA|fr|lɔʃ|-|Fr-Paris--Loches.ogg}}; {{IPAc-en|l|oʊ|ʃ}}) is a [[Communes of France|commune]] in the [[Departments of France|department]] of [[Indre-et-Loire]], [[Centre-Val de Loire]], [[France]].
It is situated {{Convert|42|km|0}}<ref>maps.google.fr</ref> southeast of [[Tours]] by road, on the left bank of the river [[Indre (river)|Indre]].
==History==
{{Unreferencedsect|date=December 2023}}
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 II of France|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, 4th Earl of Douglas|Archibald Douglas, Duke of Touraine]]. Antoine Guenand, Lord of [[La Celle-Guenand]] was appointed Captain-Governor of Loches in 1441.
==Population==
{{Historical populations
|align = none
|cols = 2
|percentages = pagr
|source = EHESS<ref name=ehess>{{Cassini-Ehess|19776|Loches }}</ref> and INSEE (1968-2017)<ref name=pophist>{{Cite web|title=Évolution et structure de la population en 2017 − Recensement de la population – Résultats pour toutes les communes, départements, régions, intercommunalités... &#124; Insee|url=https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-37132#ancre-POP_T1|access-date=2023-02-19|website=www.insee.fr}}</ref>
|1793 |4800
|1800 |4342
|1806 |4304
|1821 |4558
|1831 |4774
|1836 |4753
|1841 |4581
|1846 |5058
|1851 |5191
|1856 |5156
|1861 |5267
|1866 |5154
|1872 |4964
|1876 |5085
|1881 |5096
|1886 |5141
|1891 |5132
|1896 |5182
|1901 |5161
|1906 |5115
|1911 |5346
|1921 |4652
|1926 |4754
|1931 |4761
|1936 |4944
|1946 |5515
|1954 |5525
|1962 |5902
|1968 |6359
|1975 |6738
|1982 |6772
|1990 |6544
|1999 |6328
|2007 |6486
|2012 |6400
|2017 |6277
}}
==Sights==
{{Unreferencedsect|date=December 2023}}
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 [[Counts and dukes of Anjou|Anjou]] family, surrounded by an outer wall {{cvt|13|ft|0|disp=flip}} thick, and consisting of the old [[collegiate church]] of St Ours, the royal lodge and the ''[[donjon]]'' or keep.
[[File:Château de Loches, 2003 (3).jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left|The church of St Ours from the royal lodge]]
The church of St Ours dates from the tenth century to the twelfth century; among its distinguishing features are the huge stone [[pyramid]]s surmounting the [[nave]] and the beautiful carving of the west door. It contains the tomb of [[Agnès Sorel]].
[[File:Château de Loches, 2003 (2).jpg|thumb|upright=1.4|left|The royal lodge]]
The royal lodge, built by [[Charles VII of France]] and once used as the subprefecture, contains the [[Oratory (worship)|oratory]] of [[Anne of Brittany]]. It was here on 11 May 1429 that [[Joan of Arc]] arrived, fresh from her historic victory at Orleans, to meet the king.
The ''donjon'' includes, besides the ruined [[keep]] (12th century), the Martelet, celebrated as the [[prison]] of [[Lodovico Sforza]], [[Duke of Milan]], who died there in 1508, and the Tour Ronde, built by [[Louis XI of France]] and containing the famous [[iron]] cages in which state prisoners, including according to a story now discredited, the inventor [[Cardinal Balue]], were confined.
Loches has a town hall and several houses of the [[Renaissance]] period.
The town hall was constructed after royal approval by Francis 1st in 1515.
On the right [[stream bed|bank]] of the [[Indre]], opposite the town, is the village of [[Beaulieu-lès-Loches]], once the seat of a [[baron]]y.
==Economy==
[[Liquor]], [[distilling]] and [[Tanning (leather)|tanning]] are carried on together with trade in farm produce, [[wine]], [[wood]] and [[livestock]].
{{clear left}}
==Notable people==
Loches was the birthplace of:
* [[Fulk III, Count of Anjou]] (970–1040), one of the first great builders of medieval castles.<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Fulk Nerra | volume= 11 |last1= Halphen |first1= Louis |author1-link= Louis Halphen | page = 294 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Nicolas Barthélemy de Loches]] (1478–after 1537), Benedictine monk
* [[Alfred de Vigny]] (1797–1863), [[poet]], [[playwright]], and [[novelist]].<ref>{{Cite EB1911|wstitle= Vigny, Alfred de | volume= 28 |last1= Saintsbury |first1= George |author1-link= George Saintsbury | pages = 61&ndash;62 |short=1}}</ref>
* [[Pierre Nicolas Gerdy]] (1797–1856), French physician, surgeon, anatomist, pathologist  and physiologist,
* [[Ernest Christophe]] (1827–1892), [[sculptor]], [[François Rude]]'s student and a friend of [[Charles Baudelaire|Baudelaire]],
* [[Jacques Villeret]] (1951–2005), [[actor]].
==International relations==
Loches is twinned with:
*{{flagicon|Germany}} [[Wermelskirchen]], [[Germany]]
*{{flagicon|UK}} [[St Andrews]], [[Fife]], [[Scotland]]<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/local-headlines/st-andrews-twinning-pact-signed-in-saint-s-celebrations-1-3966433 |title=St Andrews twinning pact signed in saint's celebrations - Fife Today |website=www.fifetoday.co.uk |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151208080844/http://www.fifetoday.co.uk/news/local-headlines/st-andrews-twinning-pact-signed-in-saint-s-celebrations-1-3966433 |archive-date=2015-12-08}}</ref>
==See also==
*[[Château d'Armaillé]]
*[[Communes of the Indre-et-Loire department]]
*[[Louroux Priory]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
{{Commons category|Loches}}
* [http://www.loches-tourainecotesud.com/ Tourism office website]
{{Indre-et-Loire communes}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Communes of Indre-et-Loire]]
[[Category:Subprefectures in France]]
[[Category:Touraine]]
[[Category:Fortified settlements]]