Editing Chinon (section)

=== The historic town ===
The historic town of Chinon presents an interesting architectural ensemble, from the [[Middle Ages]] and the beginning of the [[Renaissance]] when the Loire Valley was the seat of the king's court.

Topography has played a major role: the formerly fortified town was developed at the foot of the castle on the rocky outcrop, protecting the northern side, with the Vienne River in the south. Apart from the natural defensive protection on both sides, this fact makes a long narrow urban space, with the main streets running parallel to the river.

The town was developed on both sides of the river: the fortified town at the base of the castle; the canons' quarter to the east; and on the other bank a suburb on the way to the southern regions of the [[Poitou]], important to the 12th century [[Plantagenet]]s.

The former fortified town at the foot of the castle contains a significant collection of old houses and narrow streets, including some half timber houses dating from the end of the 14th or the 15th centuries. The majority of the houses line the main street of this quarter, the rue Voltaire that then becomes the rue Haute Saint Maurice, originally Gallo-Roman, and also presents a number of ''[[hôtels particuliers]]'', or town manor houses, some with graceful turrets, winding staircase towers, and decorative elements form the end of the 15th or the beginning of the 16th century. Others, more sober and classical, date from the following periods, with some fine examples from the 17th and 18th centuries.
[[File:Grand carroi.jpg|thumb|Grand Carroi [[Crêpe#Crêperies|crêperie]]]]
This street continues on past the church of Saint Maurice to its end where it was formerly enclosed by the fortifications. It also, at the main crossroads of the "Grand Carroi", offered the only access to the castle from within the town, and is the street that [[Joan of Arc]] took to go up and meet the future Charles VII in 1429.

The stone houses are made of the local [[tufa]] stone, a soft luminous limestone, easy to carve and lending itself to the often ornate sculpted decorations of the late Gothic and early Renaissance period. The roofs are of slate, another particular regional architectural element.

The quarter to the east was enclosed as well. It too lost these elements in the 1820s in an effort to open the town up to circulation and commerce. In this quarter one finds the parish church of Saint Etienne, and further the canons' quarter of the collegiate church of Saint Mexme. Here the houses are often larger, some presenting courtyards and gardens, dating from the late 15th century and on, a few fine examples of which were the canons' residences. To the south one can join the promenade along the river, or go up the rocky slope north east to the [[Chapelle Sainte-Radegonde]].

The quarters of the former fortified town and that of Saint Etienne-Saint Mexme are divided by what was the only open space during the Middle Ages which was developed in the 18th and 19th centuries, and the architectural elements date from this period. It now presents a square sheltered by trees with outdoor restaurants tables.

The town of Chinon also offers an unusual variety of perspectives, allowing one to take its measure in several ways: from the bank opposite the castle, or river by boat, from which one can fully see the architectural presence and importance of its castle and town; from the interior of the historic town itself; and from the rocky outcrop, either from the castle itself, or along the high narrow roads along it that lead past semi-troglodytic homes and caves to the chapel of Saint Radegonde, giving a panoramic view of the historic town and the valley that opens up on the other side of the river.

Chinon is also a participant in the Loire Valley cycling tourism circuit.