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Origin and history

The Saint-Antoine de Loches Tower is the last vestige of the Ursulines convent, founded in 1627 in the lower town of Loches. This convent, closed during the French Revolution, was bought at the beginning of the 19th century thanks to donations from the faithful collected by Abbé Château. His buildings, including the refectory and the dormitory, were renovated to create the parish church Saint-Antoine, opened to worship in 1812. The architect Murisson designed the envelope of the building between 1810 and 1812, preserving 17th-century structures.

The church was gradually built after its opening: a chapel was built between 1823 and 1840, and the bell tower was built in 1836. In 2006, the building was listed as a historical monument, and a general restoration was undertaken in 2010. On this occasion, an exhibition gallery was added against the western flank of the nave to present works of art originally preserved in the church.

Saint-Antoine Church is distinguished by its atypical architecture, not respecting the traditional east-west orientation. Its rectangular nave, extended by a square choir, is framed by two side chapels. The interior decor includes mahogany-plated oak woodwork and stained glass windows made by the stained glass artist Julien-Léopold Lobin. Six paintings, dating from the 17th and 18th centuries and inspired by artists like Van Dyck or Le Brun, are protected as movable objects.

The Saint-Antoine tower derives its name from a missing chapel, located further east in the lower town of Loches. This chapel, adjacent to the tower, had given its name to the new parish created in 1803. The present church, located in Mazerolles Square, is bordered by historic streets such as Descartes Street, formerly known as "street of the Cemetery" on the Napoleonic cadastre of 1826.

The Ursulines convent, founded in the 17th century, played an educational and religious role in the region before its revolutionary closure. Its redevelopment into a parish church in the 19th century reflected the cultural needs of the Lochese population, then expanding in the lower town. The gifts of the faithful and architectural ingenuity have transformed a convent building into a place of worship that is still active today.

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