Loches (French pronunciation: [lɔʃ] ⓘ; /loʊʃ/) is a commune in the department of Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, France.

It is situated 42 kilometres (26 mi)[3] southeast of Tours by road, on the left bank of the river Indre.

In late April of 1793 during the French at a time when the Montagnards were gaining in power, the censorship of newspapers by the Montagnard provoke a protest from the town of Loches who complained to the Convention that 15 newspapers had been banned in the department including Girondin supporting newspapers such as that of Gorsas and Carra [4] The town, one of the most picturesque in central France, lies at the foot of the rocky eminence on which stands the Château de Loches, the castle of the Anjou family, surrounded by an outer wall 4 m (13 ft) thick, and consisting of the old collegiate church of St Ours, the royal lodge and the donjon or keep.

The donjon includes, besides the ruined keep (12th century), the Martelet, celebrated as the prison of Lodovico Sforza, Duke of Milan, who died there in 1508, and the Tour Ronde, built by Louis XI of France and containing the famous iron cages in which state prisoners, including according to a story now discredited, the inventor Cardinal Balue, were confined.

Liquor, distilling and tanning are carried on together with trade in farm produce, wine, wood and livestock.