Tours municipal library

The Saint-Julien Abbey in Tours, France, is an ancient Benedictine abbey dating back to the 16th century. Today's buildings date from the 10th to the 16th century, and have all been classified or listed as historic monuments.

The Wilson Bridge, built between 1765 and 1778, is the oldest bridge in Tours. It features 15 arches and extends 434 meters (1,424 feet) across the Loire. Officially named the Wilson Bridge, it is commonly referred to by locals as the Pont de Pierre (Stone Bridge). It connects the south end of the Place Choiseul at the foot of the Avenue de la Tranchée to the north end of Place Anatole-France in front of Rue Nationale. The bridge is listed as a historic monument. It replaced the deteriorating Pont d'Eudes from the 11th century located further east, allowing its decommissioning and eventual replacement by the Passerelle Saint-Symphorien.

The Archdiocese of Tours (Latin: Archidioecesis Turonensis; French: Archidiocèse de Tours) is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The archdiocese has roots that go back to the 3rd century, while the formal erection of the diocese dates from the 5th century. The ecclesiastical province of Tours corresponds with the late Roman province of Tertia Lugdunensis. During Breton independence the see of Dol briefly exercised metropolitical functions (mainly tenth century). In 1859 the Breton dioceses except that of Nantes were constituted into a province of Rennes. Tours kept its historic suffragans of Le Mans, Angers together with Nantes and a newly constituted Diocese of Laval. In 2002 Tours lost all connection with its historic province, all its previous suffragans depending henceforth on an expanded province of Rennes (corresponding to the Brittany and Pays de la Loire administrative regions). Tours since 2002 has become the ecclesiastical metropolis of the Centre administrative region.

The Hôtel Goüin is a hôtel particulier in Tours, France.

Île Aucard is an island on the Loire river, administratively belonging to the commune of Tours, France.

The Gallo-Roman baths of Tours were public bathhouses that, during the High Empire and for some until the end of the Roman Empire—none of them "survived" beyond that—were in operation in the ancient city of Caesarodunum, which would later become Tours. While these baths had long been widely accepted, their exact location began to be more clearly established in the 1980s. Two monumental complexes were partially uncovered during excavations conducted between 1974 and 1979 for one, located in the northeast of the open city of the High Empire, which archaeologists refer to as the "Eastern Baths," and between 1999 and 2002 for the other, located in the south and called the "Southern Baths." Although excavations have not determined their exact extent, they seem to be located on the periphery of the ancient city or, at the very least, away from the most densely built-up areas. The Southern Baths were probably situated along one of the main roads of Caesarodunum, while the Eastern Baths were built along the Loire River. One or even two other public baths, of smaller size, may have existed—one to the west of the city and another to the south—but the evidence for their existence is very weak. The architecture of all these bath complexes is poorly understood, as excavations have only revealed a very small portion of their structures. Likewise, the details of how they were connected to water supply and drainage networks remain highly uncertain. The remains of the Eastern Baths, which have been preserved, were reburied (it is possible to uncover them again in the future), whereas those of the Southern Baths were sealed under modern constructions after archaeological study. The rare masonry structures attributed to the baths located in the west are visible in an archaeological garden that traces the history of the site, which has been occupied almost continuously since Antiquity. The very tenuous evidence of a fourth thermal establishment disappeared after being studied.

Tours ( TOOR, French: [tuʁ] ) is one of the largest cities in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the prefecture of the department of Indre-et-Loire. The commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabitants as of 2018 while the population of the whole metropolitan area was 516,973.Tours sits on the lower reaches of the Loire, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. Formerly named Caesarodunum by its founder, Roman Emperor Augustus, it possesses one of the largest amphitheaters of the Roman Empire, the Tours Amphitheatre. Known for the Battle of Tours in 732 AD, it is a National Sanctuary with connections to the Merovingians and the Carolingians, with the Capetians making the kingdom's currency the Livre tournois. Saint Martin and Gregory of Tours were from Tours. Tours was once part of Touraine, a former province of France. Tours was the first city of the silk industry. It was wanted by Louis XI, royal capital under the Valois Kings with its Loire castles and city of art with the School of Tours. The prefecture was partially destroyed during the French Wars of Religion in the late 16th century and again during the Second World War in June 1940. The White and Blue city keeps a historical center registered in the UNESCO, and is home to the Vieux-Tours, a patrimonial site. The garden city has a green heritage and an urban landscape strongly influenced by its natural space. The historic city that is nicknamed "Le Petit Paris" and its region by its history and culture has always been a land of birth or host to many personalities, international sporting events, and is a university city with more than 30,000 students in 2019. Tours is a popular culinary city with specialties such as: rillettes, rillons, Touraine vineyards, AOC Sainte-Maure-de-Touraine cheeses and nougats. The city is also the end-point of the annual Paris–Tours cycle race.

The Battle of Tours, also called the Battle of Poitiers and the Battle of the Highway of the Martyrs (Arabic: معركة بلاط الشهداء, romanized: Maʿrakat Balāṭ ash-Shuhadā'), was fought on 10 October 732, and was an important battle during the Umayyad invasion of Gaul. It resulted in the victory for the Frankish and Aquitanian forces, led by Charles Martel, over the invading Muslim forces of the Umayyad Caliphate, led by Abd al-Rahman al-Ghafiqi, governor of al-Andalus. Several historians, such as Edward Gibbon, have credited the Christian victory in the battle as an important factor in curtailing the Islamization of Western Europe.Details of the battle, including the number of combatants and its exact location, are unclear from the surviving sources. Most sources agree that the Umayyads had a larger force and suffered heavier casualties. Notably, the Frankish troops apparently fought without heavy cavalry. The battlefield was located somewhere between the cities of Poitiers and Tours, in northern Aquitaine in western France, near the border of the Frankish realm and the then-independent Duchy of Aquitaine under Odo the Great. Al-Ghafiqi was killed in combat, and the Umayyad army withdrew after the battle. The battle helped lay the foundations of the Carolingian Empire and Frankish domination of western Europe for the next century. Most historians agree that "the establishment of Frankish power in western Europe shaped that continent's destiny and the Battle of Tours confirmed that power."

The Arcis enclosure (Enceinte des Arcis, in French) is an urban enclosure in the French commune of Tours in the Indre-et-Loire department. It was built against the western flank of the city's Gallo-Roman enclosure to extend the walled perimeter. Its construction undoubtedly dates back to the 11th or 12th century, after the building of the bridge over the Loire that ends in its northeast corner, but sources on its subject are scarce. Its purpose was certainly defensive, but it also played a political role in the war of influence between the old city of Tours and the rapidly expanding town of Châteauneuf, one kilometer to the west. It was intended to testify to the prosperity of a growing city, whose authority and prestige weighed heavily on its rival. In the 14th century, it was replaced by a new rampart protecting a much larger area, including the two urban cores. The district was bombed in June 1944, leaving almost no attested remains.

Tours Métropole Val de Loire is the métropole, an intercommunal structure, centred on the city of Tours. It is located in the Indre-et-Loire department, in the Centre-Val de Loire region, central France. It was created in March 2017, replacing the previous Communauté urbaine Tour(S) Plus. Its area is 389.2 km2. Its population was 294,220 in 2018, of which 136,463 in Tours proper.

Touraine (US: ; French: [tuʁɛn]) is one of the traditional provinces of France. Its capital was Tours. During the political reorganization of French territory in 1790, Touraine was divided between the departments of Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher, Indre and Vienne.

The arrondissement of Tours is an arrondissement of France in the Indre-et-Loire department in the Centre-Val de Loire region. It has 54 communes. Its population is 384,117 (2016), and its area is 1,087.6 km2 (419.9 sq mi).