All About Tours , France - Tours Travel Guide
Tours, by default, has become a tourist attraction in France. Since it’s located close to Paris, many tourists also travel to Tours for its wines and chateaux. With Orleans and Atlantic coast on either side, Tours is located along the Loire River and is the largest city in this valley. Having a reputation as a orthodox and bourgeois city, the surrounding Touraine region has brought it much fame and recognition as much for the unaccented perfect spoken French as for the many wines grown here.
To a certain extent, Tours, France is also important because of St. Martin, the Bishop of Tours (371 – 397). The relics of the saint were a big draw back in the medieval ages and pilgrims from far and near flocked for a look. Yet another important religious figure is Gregory of Tours, who was a 6th century bishop. Though most of the towers of the enormous Basilica of St Martin were destroyed during the Revolution, today, the reconstructed basilica is the neo-Byzantine styled home to the remaining few relics of the saint, enclosed in a stone sarcophagus that didn’t get destroyed.
Another beautiful religious monument is the Flamboyant Gothic Cathedral of St. Gatien, which has some skillfully crafted stained glass windows from the 13th century. Dedicated to the first bishop, Saint Gatien, the Cathedral was constructed in 1170. The triple-nave church has some of the finest examples of stained glass in the country.
Interestingly, Tours, France is also the place where the famous Tour de France cycling competition is held. Also called as "Le Jardin de la France" or the Garden of France, Tours has several parks and white and blue roofed buildings. Famous for the medieval district known as Vieux Tours, today, this part is a picture of well-preserved buildings in timber and la Place Plumereau, which is a busy public square with many pubs and restaurants. The Boulevard Beranger is the place where markets and fairs are held each week.
Many don’t know but Tours has the famous François Rabelais University where world-renowned choral competition called Florilège Vocal de Tours International Choir Competition is held. But that’s not all. The city is special for Catholics that owe allegiance to the Holy Face of Jesus and the Blessed Sacrament. When in 1843, Sister Marie of St Peter, a Carmelite nun spoke of a vision of devotion to the Holy Face of Jesus, she was staying in Tours. Also, Venerable Leo Dupont, commonly called as The Holy man of Tours, started the adoration of the Blessed Sacrament in this city around the same time as Sister Marie of St Peter.
Today’s Tours is a more modern city with extensive rail and road links to rest of France. Tours is also explored by tourists who wish to visit the Loire Valley and the chateaux. Close to the Bordeaux region as well as to the Mediterranean coast, tourists can also travel all the way to Spain and Barcelona via Avignon, another beautiful city in France.