Curiosities of Loches !!!

Posted in Europe, France

We were back on my road warrior trails in the Loire valley, and this was a must stop again from home on the N165 , A11 , A85 on exit 11 to the D31 to D764 to D760 and our parking at place de Verdun,and we finished with this town and the road continues ahead, stay tune for more, Loches is located in the Indre-et-Loire department 37, in the Centre-Val de Loire region of my belle France, Therefore, let me tell you more on curiosities of Loches !!! Hope you enjoy it as I.

The gare de Loches or train station is on the Joué-lès-Tours to Châteauroux line. The station opened on 15 July 1878. The SNCF station has information boards, TER ticket machines and a ticket office open every day of the week. The train station is served by TER Centre-Val de Loire network trains which run on line 31 between Tours and Loches. Passing by never use it !

The TER Centre Val de Loire train station of Loches : https://www.ter.sncf.com/centre-val-de-loire/se-deplacer/gares/loches-87571471

The market is located in the heart of the city on Wednesdays and Saturdays from 8h to 13h, the market brings together between 80 and 100 non-resident traders in various fields of activity, such as market gardeners, fishmongers, butchers, pork butchers, cheesemakers, bakers, florists, manufactured products, etc. It is held at the Place du Marché-aux-Blés, the central square at the crossroads of Rue Balzac, Rue Descartes and Rue de la République, initially named the Carroy aux Pourceaux, where pigs were sold, before welcoming the wheat trade which was indeed one of the sources of the city’s economic wealth.

At the Place du Verdun we always find easy free parking when in town surrounded by nice architecture of which some of its monuments we have visited, The most striking building there is the Best Western Premier Hôtel de la Cité Royale a haven of comfort and architectural originality. The former Palais de Justice in Loches has been completely renovated to become the hotel, which has preserved the majestic architecture of this historic building. The former Palais de Justice was built in 1866, has been closed since 1989, and put up for sale in 2009, An example of official architecture from the Second Empire (Napoléon III), it is a neoclassical-style building. The niches on its façade house busts of famous jurists. The two empty niches are said to have housed the busts of Napoleon III and one of his ministers. On the large square Place du Verdun in front of the entrance to the hotel was the last capital execution in Loches on July 25, 1860 at 8h15.

The Tour Saint-Antoine was built between 1529 and 1575 to serve as a bell tower for a church that no longer exists, the tower was also used as a belfry by the city after the French revolution. With a square plan, it has a characteristic Renaissance decor with its disc and diamond friezes, its niches decorated with the shell motif and its pilasters topped with sculpted capitals. Culminating at 52 meters, it rivals the royal residence and is one of the first buildings visible at the entrance to the city. Before at the Place du Marché aux Fleurs you see the statue in bronze inaugurated in 1909 in honor of poet and writer, originally from Loches, Alfred de Vigny, a contemporary of Victor Hugo and part of the lineage of the romantics of the 19C.

The Hôtel de ville or City hall started done when in 1519, François I authorized the people of Loches to build this City hall ,in the Renaissance style, It contains one of the first straight staircases with ramps built during this period. Two dormers respectively present the crowned Salamander of François I and the coat of arms of Loches whose three fleurs-de-lys recall the status of royal city. This building has had the same function for 500 years. The porte Picois gate was built in the first half of the 15C, and was one of the two defensive gates of the lower town still preserved today. On the inside, it has a Renaissance niche added at the time of the construction of the city hall. The original of the statue of the Virgin with the Heart, installed in this niche, is exhibited in the Galerie Saint-Antoine gallery (see post).

The Jardin Saint Louis ,a garden by Rue Thomas-Pactius ,next to the Collegiate Church Saint-Ours (see post) is a lovely little garden offers you a panoramic view of the Indre valley and the neighbouring village of Beaulieu-lès-Loches. The wisteria pergola intoxicates you with its fragrances in spring and protects you with its shade in summer. The square flowerbeds, in the spirit of a priest’s garden, explode with colour as soon as spring returns. The garden created in 2006.

The City of Loches on its heritage : https://www.ville-loches.fr/sites-et-monuments-article-3-25-36.html

The local Loches Val de Loire tourist office on the heritage of Loches: https://loches-valdeloire.com/incontournable-ville-royale-de-loches/

There you go folks, I came back to the magnificent Loire valley. Loches is nice worth the retour and will be back, eventually. Again, hope you enjoy the post on curiosities of Loches !!! as I.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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