The Best Attractions In Tour-en-Sologne

Places to see in ( Tours - France ) Basilique Saint Martin

Places to see in ( Tours - France ) Basilique Saint Martin

Basilica of St. Martin is a Roman Catholic basilica dedicated to Saint Martin of Tours, on whose tomb it was built. It is located in Tours, France. It was built to replace an earlier basilica, built in the Middle Ages and thoroughly demolished during the French Revolution. The basilica was built between 1886 and 1924 by French architect Victor Laloux in a neo-Byzantine style, on part of the site of the original Basilica which was repurchased by the Church. It was dedicated July 4, 1925. The Basilica of St. Martin of Tours is a religious building located in Tours (Indre-et-Loire), whose crypt is the tomb of Martin de Tours .

The former collegiate church Saint Martin of Tours, mainly dated from the xi th century, was abandoned, vandalized and turned into stables in 1793 and demolished after the collapse of the vaults in 1797, only two towers being retained. The current basilica, much more modest, was built between 1886 and 1902 in the neo-Byzantine style by architect Victor Laloux (inauguration in 1890 ). It is a building in limestone , granite and marble , covered with slate. For the murals, the architect addressed Pierre Fritel , and the decorative work was done with the help of the painter and decorator Adrien Lavieille , son of Eugène Lavieille . A monumental statue of Saint Martin, in bronze, intended to adorn the dome , was commissioned to the sculptor Jean-Baptiste Hugues ( Prix ​​de Rome in 1875 ). Victor Thiébaut, foundry, delivered it in 1889. The building was consecrated as basilica on July 4 , 1925.

The remains of the former collegiate church (the Charlemagne tower , the clock tower and a cloister gallery) were classified as historical monuments by the list of 1840. The statue of Saint Martin crowning the dome, weakened by the storms of early 2014, was filed on February 17, 2014 to be restored; its base has been consolidated and the statue was put back in place on October 15, 2016, in anticipation of Saint Martin, celebrated every year on November 11th. The President of the French Republic has the honorary title of canon ( ad honores ) of the basilica.

The body of Saint Martin , who died in Candes , was transported to Tours and modestly buried on November 11, 397 , three days after his death, in a Christian cemetery outside the city, on the edge of the Roman road heading towards west. According to Gregory of Tours , Bishop Brice (lat. Brictius) built in 437 wooden building to house the tomb and coat ( screed ) Martin, called for this reason chapel. Noting the radiation of this sanctuary, Bishop Perpetuusinstead built the first basilica housing the tomb of Martin, whose dedication took place on 4 July 470 , ninety-nine years to the day after the accession of St. Martin in the Tours episcopate.

Martin's body was buried in a sarcophagus behind the altar of the new basilica. A large block of marble overhanging the tomb, donated by Bishop Euphronius of Autun (472-475), marked the location of the faithful assembled behind this altar and, according to Werner Jacobsen pilgrims installed on the atrium of the basilica which, against the use, was behind the church, that is to say on the side of the apse , the block being visible from a window of the apse wall.

The church was burned by the Normans on November 8, 853 , and again on June 30, 903 , after which the sanctuary was surrounded by a fortified wall, distinct from that of Tours , completed in 918 . There was a large accidental fire in 994 , which led to reconstruction, at the instigation of Hervé de Buzançais, then treasurer of Saint-Martin, and a new consecration in 1014 .

The two remaining towers were classified Historical Monument in 1840, confirmed classification in the Inventory in 1858, then 1862. The Catholic activist Léon Dupont (with the help of Count Pèdre Moisant and Stanislas Ratel ) announced the rediscovery of the tomb by Martin de Tours on December 14, 1860, which allowed to reinstate the martinian cult and to revive a project of restitution of the grandiose site.

( Tours - France ) is well know as a tourist destination because of the variety of places you can enjoy while you are visiting Tours . Through a series of videos we will try to show you recommended places to visit in Tours - France

Join us for more :