City of Center-Loire Valley, Langeais is a new town of Indre-et-Loire born in 2017 of the merger of Langeais and the Essards. It is located thirty kilometers from Tours, not far from Cinq-Mars-la-Pile, Azay-le-Rideau and Villandry, and their castles.
Located between forest and Loire, the city of Langeais is one of the oldest of all Touraine. Founded during the Gallo-Roman period, the old Alingavia grew up under Foulques Nerra and the construction of a square dungeon around the year one thousand. A former English property, the town is also known for having hosted the marriage of Anne de Bretagne and Charles VIII at the end of the 15th century.
Today, Langeais is mainly known for its tourist activity, as well as for its castle and its various historical monuments. Its proximity with some of the most beautiful castles of the Val de Loire also make it a privileged place to discover this region inscribed on UNESCO World Heritage.
Built in the 15th century, the castle of Langeais is surely the most beautiful tourist site of the whole municipality. Classified as Historical Monuments, it was rebuilt by Louis XI, on the remains of the old dungeon of the XIth century Fulk Nerra. Set on a rocky promontory, it dominates the banks of the Loire, revealing a very beautiful example of late medieval architecture. The building is well preserved and forms a hinge between the medieval style and the Renaissance style, showing its visitors a drawbridge, machicolations, but also finely decorated facades. Inside, fifteen rooms decorated and furnished are revealed, like the one of Preux and its tapestries of the 15th and 16th centuries. A staging based on wax dummies also traces one of the most important events of the castle, the marriage of Anne of Brittany and the King of France, Charles VIII, in the fifteenth century. A large garden extends around the building, and allows to admire the vestiges of the old donjon.
Not far from the castle, it is possible to admire three 16th century houses listed in the Historic Monuments, including that of the famous French writer, François Rabelais.
The church of St. John the Baptist was built between the eleventh and twelfth centuries. Classified as a Historic Monument for its apses, sacristy and bell-tower, it shows its visitors a very beautiful nave of the 15th century, as well as a more recent transept of the nineteenth century. Also listed as a Historic Monument, the Saint-Laurent church, dating from the 11th and 12th centuries, hosts exhibitions and concerts in summer.
Built in the 19th century, the suspension bridge of Langeais was partly destroyed during the Second World War before being reborn from its ashes in the early 1950s. Every night, it enjoys an illumination highlighting it.
In the station of Langeais, do not miss to discover the souvenir car of the deportation erected in National Monument of the Deported Escapees of the Trains of Deportation. At the beginning of August 1944, the city experienced an escape of several hundred deportees.
In the former commune of Les Essards, you can also discover the 13th-century Notre-Dame church, as well as a pedunculate oak classified as a remarkable tree.
Very popular with locals, the Crémille wood is ideal for family walks or sporting outings.
The market is held every Sunday morning. The city also hosts a Christmas market in December. Night markets offering different themes take place in July.
The festival 1, 2, 3 Ciné is dedicated to toddlers.
In March, the city organizes a comic book fair.
Les Nuits vagabondes is a competition that takes place in June at Langeais. He puts forward jumpers, composers and performers to discover the talents of tomorrow.
Every two years between July and August, the city organizes its biennale of contemporary glass. On the program, exhibitions, as well as demonstrations of craftsmen.
On the third weekend of August, the Céramicales propose a market of potters with technical demonstrations and various other animations.
Falconry Show
- From 14 july to 29 august 2024
- Place Pierre de Brosse
- In Langeais, this event revives the age-old art of falconry. In the park of the castle, at the foot of the remains of the keep from the year 1000, day and night birds evolve in a bewitching ballet. The falconer, a fine connoisseur of his birds, will explain to visitors the particularities of each of them, as well as the different techniques of hunting in flight. - At the end of the sessions, visitors can go and meet these fascinating birds.
