- FRANCE - PART ONE -

Loches : Part 6

LINKS to other pages in the FRANCE PART ONE site and to the Colin Day Travelling Days series:

      Medieval armour at the entrance to the Governor's Residence (left).
      The Dungeon from the Terrace Garden (lower right).

The view from the top of the Dungeon tower. The Collegiate Church of St Ours is in the middle distance (right).

The Tours a Bec: Nine metre diameter, three storied towers were built along the line of the inner wall at the beginning of the 15th century. This one is situated on the southern side of the keep. They possessed long arrow- slits with stirrup-shaped openings at the base which allowed the archers to shoot down on to any enemy that managed to come close to the wall foundations. This particular tower design was very rare.

André Hallays, a traveller at the end of the last century, enthusiastically asserted that : 'The Collégiale Saint-Ours is the marvel of Loches, and one of the marvels of our religious architecture.' The Collegiate Church is flanked by two towers, one from the 11th century, the other, containing the porch, a century later.

After the collapse of the roof between these two towers around 1165, the two hollow pyramidal towers, called 'dubes' were built. They were originally conical and took their present octagonal shape during a restoration in the 19th century. The extraordinary acoustics produced by these two dubes make the church particularly favoured for organ concerts.

Doorway into the church (left)
Interior of the church (below right)
and a carved seat in the sanctuary (below left).

Bestiary carvings on the doorway into the Collegiate Church of St Ours.

A view from the Dungeon (left).

Photograph taken from the public gardens (right). The Collegiate Church is in the left background and the Chateau (Royal Residence) on the right.