Discover the indre-et-loire castles and museums

Cité royale de loches

 The keep of the castle of Loches was built in the early 11th century by Foulques Nerra. Thirty-six metres high, it is considered as one of the most imposing building of the Norman period. Fine example of military architecture, it was later converted into a prison. One of its most famous inmates was Ludovic Sforza, duke of Milan.
 The Royal Apartments are a significant example of the French Renaissance. The façade opening onto the terrace dominates the historic city and the Indre Valley. Celebrated by famous women of the French history, such as Joan of Arc, Agnes Sorel and Anne of Brittany.

Forteresse royale de chinon

 Overhanging majestically the city, the fortress built by the Count Thibaut I of Blois, invites the visitors to immerse themselves in the heart of the history of France and England. Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine established the Court of the Plantagenet in the fortress in the 12th century. After the death of Richard - the Lionheart , Philippe-Auguste took over the castle in 1204 and built the Coudray keep. In 1429, Joan of Arc met the Dauphin and future King Charles VII in the Royal Lodge. Not to be missed
 After the Clock Tower, visitors penetrate in the Apartments made up of four rooms that introduce Flemish tapestries and furniture, reconstituting the castle life. The various towers offer single and various points of view on the city. The Joan of Arc's Museum relates the life of the well known woman.

Musée rabelais maison de la devinière

 La Devinière, the 15th-century country house where François Rabelais was born, is situated in Seuilly, in the heart of the Chinon vineyards. Site of the "Picrocholine" wars, the literary museum pays tribute to the author of Gargantua and Pantagruel. Not to be missed :
 The museum tour, it’s the collections of portraits and old works, cellars and gardens invite the visitor to discover one of the most famous spirits of French humanism.

Musée balzac château de saché

 The Château of Saché stands in the heart of the Touraine, in the valley the Indre. . This place was a source of inspiration for Honoré de Balzac, the author of the Comédie Humaine, was built in the Middle Ages. It was then modified during the Renaissance and converted in the 19th century into a comfortable dwelling. Honoré de Balzac imagined and wrote several of his most famous novels in the Castle of Saché, among which Père Goriot, Le lys dans la vallée, César Birrotteau, Les Illusions perdues… Not to be missed :
 The wealthy house is furnished and decorated in the 19th-century style : the dining room, the "Lions" salon, the hall and the Balzac's bedroom. Visitors will find many painted or carved representations of Balzac. The three-hectare park is surrounded by lilies, peonies, delphiniums and various other trees that offers romantic walks.

Demeure de ronsard prieuré de saint cosme

 From 1092, as the Priory of Saint-Cosme was founded, to the 18th century, the canon community received pilgrims of Saint Jacques de Compostelle in the priory. The history was marked in the 15th and 16th centuries by the royal presence in Touraine, and especially by the arrival of Pierre de Ronsard as commander of the priory. In 1565, the founder of La Pléiade received Catherine de Médicis and his son Charles IX. Offering a favourable environment to poetic creation and simple pleasures, the priory was the last residence of the poet who died in 1585. Not to be missed
 The Prior's house with the poet's workroom, the refectory and the church apse where Pierre de Ronsard lies buried. The rose gardens, pay an appropriate homage to the poet and offers a romantic promenade.

Musée de préhistoire château du grand pressigny

 A 12th-century fortress and keep occupies the famous Neolithic site. In the 16th century the family Villars of Savoy built the Renaissance galleries where stands today the Prehistory Museum.
 Not to be missed :
 The museum introduces rich collections from the Palaeolithic and Neolithic ages and an important fossil collection. This lively and playful museum also proposes videos, models and a recreation of archaeological digs.

Château de candé

 At the beginning of the 16th century, François Briconnet, mayor of Tours, built a country site in Renaissance style. In 1853, Santiago Drake del Castillo, a rich Cuban, acquired the property and tripled the size of the building in Neo-Gothic and Renaissance styles. In 1927, the millionaire Charles Bedaux (1886-1944) who owned the Castle modernised it, installing running water and telephone. On June 3rd 1937, the Duke of Windsor, former Edward VIII chose this place to marry the American Wallis Simpson, from whom he had renounced the throne. In 1951 Charles Bedaux's widow gave Candé to the presidency of the Republic that gave it to the Conseil Général d'Indre-et-Loire in 1974. Not to be missed :
 The visitor will discover the dining room, the music salon and its organ, the Fern's room and Charles's office, the library and the bathroom of the 1930's with mosaics. The property of more than 250 hectares with remarkable flora and fauna : 60 roe deer, 150 species of birds, herons…

Musée de l'hôtel goüin

 The Hotel Goüin, a 15th-century town mansion, accommodated silk merchants and traders. The façade is a masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance. Today the museum of the Archaeological Society can be found in the Hotel. Not to be missed :
 He Hotel Goüin presents the local history, from prehistory up to the Age of Enlightenment. It also presents a collection of early objects dedicated to the study of physics from Chenonceau, as they were used by Jean-Jacques Rousseau.

Parc de richelieu