Henry Plantagenet lived here and Richard the Lionheart (probably) died here. Most excitingly though, Joan of Arc came here to persuade Charles VII (then dauphin) to toughen up and kick the English out of France. The rest is history, as we say. Don't miss the graffiti in the Caudray tower, carved by Templar knights awaiting execution.

Sitting high on a plateau, a huge castle dominates the entire town. The château Chinon was built on the site of a Gallo-Roman castrum as a fortified stronghold by Theobald I, Count of Blois in the year 954.