Cathédrale Saint-Gatien de Tours

Tours

When the people of Tours, in 371, draw Martin out of his monastery at Ligugé to make him their bishop, it is here, in the city, that the crowd awaits him and that the assembled bishops ordain him despite his monkish looks: the first cathedral, founded by the bishop Lidoire, Martin's predecessor, already occupied this corner of the Roman enclosure. Gregory of Tours, who found it ruined by the fire of 561, restored it and dedicated it in 590; he sat there from 573 to 594, writing between two offices the History of the Franks and the four books of the Miracles of Saint Martin which made the neighbouring tomb the sanctuary of kings. Of those churches nothing visible remains: the present cathedral, begun in 1170 after a further fire and finished in 1547 with its two towers with Renaissance crowns, took four centuries to build, and it changed patron in 1356, passing from Saint Maurice to Saint Gatien, the first bishop of Tours. What one comes here to see for Martin is the chancel of the 13th century and its medallion windows, one of the most complete sets in France: to the right of the Passion, a window of three lancets unfolds in eighteen scenes the life of the saint, from the division of the cloak and the dream to the death at Candes, the quarrel of the men of Poitiers and the men of Tours and the boat that brings the body back up to Tours. The cloister of the Psalette, where singing was taught, backs on to the north side.

Wikipédia — Cathédrale Saint-Gatien de Tours ↗

Getting there : Place de la Cathédrale, in old Tours, ten minutes' walk from the station. Open every day, free entry; the window of Saint Martin is in the chancel, to the right of the axial window. The cloister of the Psalette, set against the north flank, is run by the Centre des monuments nationaux (admission charge, seasonal times).

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

Ambient sound