Tours The Basilica of Saint Martin

Martin, a Roman soldier who shared his cloak with a beggar at Amiens, was bishop of Tours from 371 until his death in 397. For a thousand years his tomb drew pilgrims from all of Christendom, and Tours was a great stop on the road to Compostela.

The medieval basilica was pulled down after the Revolution; two of its towers remain. In 1860 Martin’s tomb was rediscovered beneath the houses of the street, and the present basilica, finished in 1924, was built above it.

• The tomb of Saint MartinIn the crypt of the basilica.
• MarmoutierThe monastery Martin founded across the Loire around 372, with the caves where he and his monks lived; guided visits are booked through the Tours tourist office.
• The cathedral of Saint-GatienGothic, with its thirteenth-century windows.

• November 11Feast of Saint Martin of Tours
• June 4, in France; June 3, the day of her death, outside FranceFeast of Saint Clotilde
• November 17, in the Roman MartyrologyFeast of Saint Gregory of Tours
• April 30, in CanadaFeast of Saint Marie of the Incarnation (Marie Guyart)

• Saint Martin of ToursSoldier, monk and bishop of Tours
• Saint ClotildeQueen of the Franks, wife of Clovis
• Saint Gregory of ToursBishop of Tours and historian of the Franks
• Saint Marie of the Incarnation (Marie Guyart)Ursuline of Tours, founder of the Ursulines of Quebec

• Via SanctorumThe Way of the Saints, nine daysDay II, Paris to Tours · Day III, Tours · Day IV, Tours to Nevers

About an hour and a quarter by high-speed train from the Gare Montparnasse in Paris.

• L’Île-BouchardThe Church of Saint-Gilles, about 23 miles as the crow flies
• ChinonThe Royal Fortress of Chinon, about 26 miles as the crow flies
• PellevoisinThe Shrine of Our Lady of Pellevoisin, about 45 miles as the crow flies
• Le MansThe Cathedral of Saint-Julien, about 48 miles as the crow flies