Tours

Tours (tr), city (1990 pop. 133,403), capital of Indre-et-Loire dept., W central France, in Touraine, on the Loire River. It is a wine market and a tourist center, with metallurgical, chemical, electrical, clothing, and printing industries. An old Gallo-Roman town, it grew rapidly after the death (397) of its bishop, Saint Martin, whose remains are buried in the Basilica of St. Martin (built 1887–1924). The city was a center of medieval Christian learning, notably under Gregory of Tours and Alcuin. It was there that Charles Martel halted (732) the Moorish conquest of Europe. The city became an archdiocese in 853. The history of Tours is essentially that of Touraine, of which it was the capital. It was favored by many kings, including Louis XI, who held his States General there and who died in the nearby château of Plessis-lès-Tours. The city has produced great painters, sculptors, goldsmiths, and tapestry weavers. During the Franco-Prussian War (1870–71), Tours was the headquarters of the government of national defense. In World War II it was briefly (June, 1940) the seat of the French government. Points of interest include Gallo-Roman ruins and the splendid Gothic Cathedral of St. Gatien (13th–16th cent.).

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Tours

City (pop., 1999: 132,820), northwest-central France. Gallic tribes inhabited the site before the Roman conquest. In the 3rd century AD it was made an episcopal see, but the Christian community remained small until St. Martin became bishop in the 4th century; a magnificent basilica was raised above his tomb in the late 5th century, attracting pilgrims for hundreds of years. In the 5th century Tours became part of the Frankish dominion; Charles Martel defeated Moorish invaders nearby at the Battle of Tours/Poitiers in 732. Under Alcuin it developed as a centre of learning. Though it prospered in the Middle Ages, it declined with the 17th-century emigration of the Protestant Huguenots. It was the seat of French government during the siege of Paris (1870) in the Franco-Prussian War. The chief tourist hub for the Loire valley, Tours still has the remains of the basilica of St. Martin. Tours is the birthplace of Honore de Balzac.

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Tours

Arab onslaught halted by Franks under Charles Martel (732). [Eur. Hist.: Bishop, 19]

See : Turning Point