Abbaye de Marmoutier et grottes des Sept Dormants

Tours

Around 372, Martin, newly consecrated Bishop of Tours against his will, crossed the Loire to find solitude again at the foot of the hillside. His biographer Sulpicius Severus assures us that this retreat "had nothing to envy the solitude of the desert": the future great saint of Gaul lived there in a wooden cell, surrounded by disciples lodged in caves cut straight into the cliff. One of them, known as the "Repose of Saint Martin", is held to have sheltered his vigils. The most astonishing tradition of the place is that of the Seven Sleepers: seven cousins of Martin are said to have joined him at Marmoutier, bringing relics with which he consecrated the altar of their rock-cut oratory. Twenty-five years after the saint's death, so the story goes, all seven died at the same instant, prostrate in prayer. Their bodies, displayed for seven days on their seats, drew crowds and cures were reported; the bishop Saint Brice buried them before the altar of the cave, clad in their simple robes. Having become one of the most powerful abbeys in the kingdom, Marmoutier was dismantled after the Revolution: what survives is the Romanesque Tour des Cloches (11th century), the Portail de la Crosse, the 14th-century enclosure wall and above all the caves, refashioned in the 19th century with their Galerie des Solitaires. Archaeological excavations have continued there since 2004, and the pilgrims of Saint Martin still climb up to it.

Getting there : 17 quai de Marmoutier, on the right bank of the Loire (D952), 2.5 km east of the centre of Tours; bus stop nearby; approach point: the Portail de la Crosse (13th century) on the quay, from where one takes in the enclosure wall and the hillside hollowed with caves.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound