Tours

Tours, city in west central France, capital of Indre-et-Loire Department, on the River Loire. Tours is a market centre for the fertile Loire Valley region and has industries manufacturing printed materials, chemicals, machinery, processed food, and textiles. As more industry leaves Paris, expanding pharmaceutical and chemical facilities are being established in Tours. The city also serves as a centre for visits to the châteaux of the historic Loire Valley and forms part of the Loire Valley World Heritage Site, designated by UNESCO in 2000.

Places of interest in Tours include the famous Gothic cathedral of St Gatien, begun in the 12th century and completed in the 16th century, with a richly ornamented facade and magnificent stained-glass windows. Near the centre of Tours are two towers, the only remains of the Abbey of St Martin, named after the patron saint of France, who was bishop of Tours in the 4th century, and mentioned in the 6th century by the celebrated Frankish historian Gregory of Tours. Other famous churches in the city include the 13th-century Nôtre Dame la Riche (restored 19th century) and the 15th-century St Saturnin. Institutions of higher education include the University of Tours (1970).

The name of the city is derived from the Gallic tribe of Turones. After its conquest by Rome, the town was named Altinos, and later Caesarodunum. It was Christianized about 250 and became the seat of an important bishopric, later an archbishopric. In the 5th century the name of the city was changed to Civitas Turonorum (City of the Turones), later corrupted to Tours. The city was captured by the Visigoths in 473 and by Clovis I, king of the Franks, in 507. It was at a point between Poitiers and Tours in 732 that forces led by the Frankish ruler Charles Martel repulsed the invading Moors and arrested their advance in Europe. Later, the city became the capital of the province of Touraine.

Under the Valois kings of France, particularly Louis XI, who established a silk industry here in the 1460s, Tours became an important commercial centre. During the Franco-Prussian War, it was the provisional capital of France from October 1870 until it was occupied by German troops in January 1871. It was again the temporary seat of the French government in June 1940, during World War II. It was badly damaged later in the war, in 1944. Population 136,600 (2005 estimate).