Chinon

The royal fortress of Chinon runs four hundred metres along the ridge above the Vienne, in three linked castles divided by dry moats. Henry II of England, who ruled from here as much as anywhere, died at Chinon in 1189. In 1429 Joan of Arc arrived to meet the uncrowned Charles VII and, by the tradition, identified him although he had hidden himself among his courtiers; the great hall where this happened survives only as a gable and a fireplace on the wall. Templars were imprisoned in the Coudray tower and left graffiti carved in the stone. The town below is medieval and gives its name to a Cabernet Franc red.

History

Chinon stands on the Vienne about ten kilometres above its meeting with the Loire, and the site was fortified early: by the 5th century there was a Gallo-Roman castrum, and in the mid-5th century Saint Mexme, a disciple of Saint Martin, founded a hermitage and then a monastery east of the town. Henry II, count of Anjou and from 1154 king of England, rebuilt and enlarged the castle as his administrative centre and died there in 1189; it passed to Richard the Lionheart and then to John, who lost it to Philip II Augustus in 1205, after which it belonged to the French crown. Philip IV held the Templar Grand Master Jacques de Molay and other leaders of the order here after their arrest in 1307, the future Charles VII set up his court at Chinon in 1425, and in 1429 the seventeen-year-old Joan of Arc came here to meet him (Wikipedia, Chinon).

What you'll find

• The three-part fortress - four hundred metres of walls in linked enclosures.
• The Coudray tower graffiti - carvings left by imprisoned Templars.
• The great hall wall - the fragment of the room where Joan met the dauphin.
• The medieval town - timber-framed streets and wine cellars below.

When to go

April to October; the fortress opens year-round with reduced winter hours. A medieval market fills the town in August. Wine cellars in the town run tastings.

Practical notes

Much of the fortress is ruin with modern interpretation screens rather than rooms. The climb from town is steep, though a lift runs from the centre. The Joan of Arc story is tradition and the hall is largely gone.

Nearby

Fontevraud lies west; Usse is northeast.