Basilique Saint-Martin de Tours

Tours

It is no accident that Tours gave its name to the Via Turonensis, one of the four great historic routes to Compostela: it was here that Saint Martin was buried, a former Roman soldier turned bishop who is said to have shared his cloak with a beggar at Amiens in the 4th century — the founding episode of a cult that made his tomb one of the greatest pilgrimages of the West from the early Middle Ages onwards. The immense medieval basilica was almost entirely destroyed after the Revolution; only the Charlemagne Tower and the Clock Tower survive today, remnants of the Romanesque building. The present sanctuary, in neo-Byzantine style, dates from 1886–1902.

Getting there : Free admission

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

Ambient sound