Tours Hotels

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.).

History

The name of the city comes from the ancient Gallic tribe called the Turones. In Roman times it was known as Turonensis. In the mid-3rd century Gatianus (Saint Gatien) was sent from Rome to reorganize a small Christian community. Saint Martin of Tours was bishop of Tours at the end of the 4th century, and his tomb became a major pilgrimage site; the church of Saint-Martin was one of the great Romanesque pilgrimage churches, like Saint-Sernin in Toulouse and Santiago de Compostela, and the powerful bishops of Tours, such as Gregory of Tours, were personages to be reckoned with for the Merovingian kings.

The Battle of Tours was fought on October 10, 732 between forces under the Frankish leader Charles Martel and an Islamic force led by Emir Abdul Rahman al-Ghafiq. The Franks defeated the Islamic army and stopped the northward advance of Islam from Spain.

The Touraine was a county at the time of the Carolingian rulers (751 to 987 AD). The Vikings pillaged the town in 853 and 903. By 1044 it was held by the counts of Anjou. During the reign of Philip II, the Livre Tournois (Tours Pound) was adopted as the international currency of France.

In the 16th and 17th centuries, Tours had a significant Huguenot population, many of which had been responsible for the building of a huge silk industry. With the Edict of Nantes rescinded in 1685 and the resulting slaughter of thousands of Protestants, the Huguenots fled the country and the once flourishing silk industry of Tours, vanished forever. Some of the Huguenots settled in Ireland where their weaving skills saw them establish some of the great Irish linen factories.


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