Last year in March we took a trip to the Loire valley of France and did whirly-wind tour of the area. We tried to fit in as many locations as possible and ended up seeing three castles and four cities in the three days and two nights that we were there. That's really a drop in the bucket compared to how many castles are actually clustered in the relatively small area known as the Loire Valley.
We made the town of Amboise our home base and branched out from there to the surrounding area. One of the stops we made was to the Royal city of Loches.
Loches is located about an hours drive from Amboise in the Indre Valley next to the Indre river.
Its a medieval town famous for its two historical monuments, the royal palace and the royal keep which is sometimes referred to as a Donjon.
Both are built atop a large rocky outcrop which makes them sort of loom over the city and dominate the surrounding area.
The price of addmission into one of the monuments also gets you into the other, which is good because the castle tour is actually quite boring in comparison to the old keep. It would be a shame to have to choose between the two since choosing the castle would actually be the wrong decision in this case.
The keep was originally built in 1013 - 1035 as a military stronghold and has withstood the test of time despite having been in multiple sieges throughout its history. The keep is actually considered one of the best preserved fortresses dating back to the Romanesque period.
Construction of the keep spanned several hundreds of years begining in the 11th century and continuing on into the 16th. The main structure was the large square shaped donjon that is still largely intact. Later on several new wall systems and towers were added by the various leaders who took charge of the property.
The inside of the keep is much more interesting than the outside though so lets head inside to have a gander.
If the day is rainy you will likely need an umbrella, even inside. The ceiling is open to the elements and the air is damp with moisture. Moss grows on the walls between nooks and cranies in the rock. Cawing crows echo throughout the chamber giving the place an ominus feel about it. I thought the birds were real at first but after a while I noticed a pattern in their squawking and realized that the sound was being played over a loud speaker. It does provide a neat sort of medeival ambiance that seems very fitting for the location.
The stone steps bring you to an iron platform that opens up into an deep expansive abyss. If you're afraid of heights you might need to turn back at this point because you really can't avoid seeing the ground several meters below your feet.
Heading up the many flights of stairs and looking out over the empty pit gives you a glimps of the keeps original structure. Archways pinpoint each floors entrance and holes in the walls show the locations of the where wooden beams would have been anchored to the stone in order to hold up the floors.
There wasn't a crow in site that day but there certainly wasn't a shortage of pigeons.
Up stairs and down. I don't know how many floors there were but it felt like quite a few. I'd guess that it was about five or six stories to get to the top of the building.
Reaching the top you'll see more pigeons and a decent view of the valley below. If you hang your head over the iron railing and look into the deep pit you just came from, you can almost make out the ground floor where you started your ascent.
You might be a bit light headed from the climb so just in case you forgot how gravity works there is a sign telling you not to climb the wall or railing for risk of plummeting to your death.
Head back down and wander through the remaining builings, theres actually a lot more to see.
For instance, theres the dueling room that is pretty cool. It was a place where people would settle their grievances the old fashioned way, with swords. Carvings in the rock walls tell the story along with an interactive speaker system.
The keep was converted into a royal prison in the 15th century and held several famous political figures at the time. Prison cells and remnant artifacts can be seen throughout the property, even in the old cavernous basement.
Your jouney through the keep ends after you've walked through the low tunnels in the basement. A staircase brings you outside to a small garden with not a whole lot to see or discuss. From their you may continue your tour through the royal castle or tour the market in the town below if you're so inclined.