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The tour starts from the Tour Agnès Sorel, a tower dating from the 13th century traditionally referred to as the Beautiful Agnès Tower. From the terrace, which commands a fine view of Loches and the Indre Valley, it is clear that the château was built at two different periods. The Vieux Logis (14th c.), the older, taller building, is heavily fortified with four turrets linked by a sentry walk at the base of the roof. It was enlarged under Charles VIII and Louis XII by the addition of the more recent Nouveau Logis, in the manner and style of the Renaissance.

1 CHARLES VII'S ROOM - It was the King's chamber and his retreat. In this room he secretly came to many important decisions. The walls are adorned with a 16th century tapestry, a lively allegorical depiction of music, and a Portrait of Charles VII, a copy of the painting by Jean Fouquet.
2 - JOAN OF ARC'S ROOM - This was the Great Hall, with the large fireplace, of the castle in the 15th century, in which she met the Dauphin after the victory at Orléans, and implored him to be crowned at Reims (3 and 5 June 1429). She was accompanied at the time by Robert Le Masson, Chancellor of France, who died in 1443, Dunois and Gilles cle Rais. Lovely tapestries are on display (verdures from Oudenaarde), together with a copy of the manuscript of Joan of Arc's trial. When the Royal Family came to Loches they feasted, slept and danced here. It was equally in this room that the King received his vassals, his guests and his subjects. In the 15th century its importance doubled because the vault which dominated the room was the roof itself.

3 - AGNèS SOREL'S TOMB - The recumbent figure of Agnès Sorel is of special interest, but has only been in the room since 1970. To begin with, following her wishes, it was placed in the Saint Ours Collegiate church, near the Royal Dwelling. During the Revolution, soldiers of the Indre battalions, whose historical knowledge was not equal to their Revolutionary zeal, took the favourite of Charles VII for a saint, chopped up her statue, desecrated her grave and scattered her remains. The monument was restored in Paris under the Empire and again on the occasion of its transfer to the Nouveau Logis. Agnès is shown recumbent, with two angels supporting her lovely head and two lambs - the symbol of gentleness and her name - lying at her feet. In the same room is displayed the portrait by Fouquet of the Virgin Mary, whose

face is that of the beautiful Agnès, amid red and blue angels (the original is displayed in Antwerp); the hairstyle, for which women had to have half their skull shaved to reveal a bare forehead, first became fashionable in Venice.
Agnès was the owner of Beauté Castle (at Nogent-sur-Marne) near Paris and also a great beauty, so that her title, La Dame de Beauté, was doubly apt. She, daughter of Jean Sorel - a nobleman of Picardy - was born at Fromenteau Castle in the Touraine in 1422. She was presented to Charles VII towards 1435 and became his favourite, but left the court at Chinon, where the Dauphin, the future Louis XI, was making life impossible for her to come and live at Loches. She became the lady in waiting of Isabelle of Lorraine and had an important influence at the court for a period of ten years. Her influence on the King was often beneficial - she cured him of his depression and encouraged him in his effort to save his kingdom - but her taste for luxury coupled with great generosity was a heavy burden on the slender royal purse. She died on 9 February 1450 (aged 28) at Jumièges where she had gone to be with Charles VII. Her body was brought back to Loches and buried in the collegiate church. Some years later the canons, who had benefited from her largesse, asked Louis XI to transfer her tomb to the castle. He agreed on condition that the gifts went too, whereupon the canons let the matter drop...

4 - THE TRIPTYCH - This French primitive painting, dated 1485 is a real work of art - it is the original and still very well preserved; it comes from the School of Tours, founded by Jean Fouquet. It is painted on wood, following the method 'a tempera', with panels evoking the Crucifixion, the Carrying of the Cross and the Deposition. It originally came from the church of St-Antoine.

5 - CHARLES VIII'S ROOM - On the mantlepiece is a bust of Charles VIII, above a copy of a primitive, now in Vienna, wich represents Maximillian of Austria and his family.

6 - THE ORATORY OF ANNE OF BRITANNY - The tour ends with Anne of Brittany's oratory (constructed towards 1500), a tiny room decorated with finely worked motifs of the ermine of Brittany and the girdle of St Francis. The canopy opposite the altar originally stood over the royal pew and the only door was the one to the right of the altar. Executed in the pure, flamboyant Gothic style, this oratory was originally polychrome: a bright blue background with gilded cable moulding and silver-coated ermines.

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\| close window \| detailed map \| photobook \| previous page		The Royal Dwelling (Le Logis Royal), inside THE CASTLE OF LOCHES (Le Château de Loches)

The tour starts from the Tour Agnès Sorel, a tower dating from the 13th century traditionally referred to as the Beautiful Agnès Tower. From the terrace, which commands a fine view of Loches and the Indre Valley, it is clear that the château was built at two different periods. The Vieux Logis (14th c.), the older, taller building, is heavily fortified with four turrets linked by a sentry walk at the base of the roof. It was enlarged under Charles VIII and Louis XII by the addition of the more recent Nouveau Logis, in the manner and style of the Renaissance. 1 CHARLES VII'S ROOM - It was the King's chamber and his retreat. In this room he secretly came to many important decisions. The walls are adorned with a 16th century tapestry, a lively allegorical depiction of music, and a Portrait of Charles VII, a copy of the painting by Jean Fouquet. 2 - JOAN OF ARC'S ROOM - This was the Great Hall, with the large fireplace, of the castle in the 15th century, in which she met the Dauphin after the victory at Orléans, and implored him to be crowned at Reims (3 and 5 June 1429). She was accompanied at the time by Robert Le Masson, Chancellor of France, who died in 1443, Dunois and Gilles cle Rais. Lovely tapestries are on display (verdures from Oudenaarde), together with a copy of the manuscript of Joan of Arc's trial. When the Royal Family came to Loches they feasted, slept and danced here. It was equally in this room that the King received his vassals, his guests and his subjects. In the 15th century its importance doubled because the vault which dominated the room was the roof itself. 3 - AGNèS SOREL'S TOMB - The recumbent figure of Agnès Sorel is of special interest, but has only been in the room since 1970. To begin with, following her wishes, it was placed in the Saint Ours Collegiate church, near the Royal Dwelling. During the Revolution, soldiers of the Indre battalions, whose historical knowledge was not equal to their Revolutionary zeal, took the favourite of Charles VII for a saint, chopped up her statue, desecrated her grave and scattered her remains. The monument was restored in Paris under the Empire and again on the occasion of its transfer to the Nouveau Logis. Agnès is shown recumbent, with two angels supporting her lovely head and two lambs - the symbol of gentleness and her name - lying at her feet. In the same room is displayed the portrait by Fouquet of the Virgin Mary, whose face is that of the beautiful Agnès, amid red and blue angels (the original is displayed in Antwerp); the hairstyle, for which women had to have half their skull shaved to reveal a bare forehead, first became fashionable in Venice. Agnès was the owner of Beauté Castle (at Nogent-sur-Marne) near Paris and also a great beauty, so that her title, La Dame de Beauté, was doubly apt. She, daughter of Jean Sorel - a nobleman of Picardy - was born at Fromenteau Castle in the Touraine in 1422. She was presented to Charles VII towards 1435 and became his favourite, but left the court at Chinon, where the Dauphin, the future Louis XI, was making life impossible for her to come and live at Loches. She became the lady in waiting of Isabelle of Lorraine and had an important influence at the court for a period of ten years. Her influence on the King was often beneficial - she cured him of his depression and encouraged him in his effort to save his kingdom - but her taste for luxury coupled with great generosity was a heavy burden on the slender royal purse. She died on 9 February 1450 (aged 28) at Jumièges where she had gone to be with Charles VII. Her body was brought back to Loches and buried in the collegiate church. Some years later the canons, who had benefited from her largesse, asked Louis XI to transfer her tomb to the castle. He agreed on condition that the gifts went too, whereupon the canons let the matter drop... 4 - THE TRIPTYCH - This French primitive painting, dated 1485 is a real work of art - it is the original and still very well preserved; it comes from the School of Tours, founded by Jean Fouquet. It is painted on wood, following the method 'a tempera', with panels evoking the Crucifixion, the Carrying of the Cross and the Deposition. It originally came from the church of St-Antoine. 5 - CHARLES VIII'S ROOM - On the mantlepiece is a bust of Charles VIII, above a copy of a primitive, now in Vienna, wich represents Maximillian of Austria and his family. 6 - THE ORATORY OF ANNE OF BRITANNY - The tour ends with Anne of Brittany's oratory (constructed towards 1500), a tiny room decorated with finely worked motifs of the ermine of Brittany and the girdle of St Francis. The canopy opposite the altar originally stood over the royal pew and the only door was the one to the right of the altar. Executed in the pure, flamboyant Gothic style, this oratory was originally polychrome: a bright blue background with gilded cable moulding and silver-coated ermines. \| close window \| detailed map \|