Visit one of the best-preserved fortified cities from the Romanesque period. Explore the city walls and towers, the governor's house and the barbican, among others.  The site was a château for counts, then a royal fortress, before becoming a prison in the 15th century. Charles VII visited regularly from 1418 and made the city into the second largest stronghold after Chinon. The return of the Valois dynasty to Ile-de-France in the 16th century plunged the royal residence into a gentle slumber. It was used as a court of law and prison for revolutionaries (1793), and then became a civil court until the 1920s. The Indre-et-Loire council, which owns the site, began opening it up to visitors in the 1950s. On your visit you will come to understand the cultural and historical significance of this beautiful and impressive site.