Ancienne abbaye de Saint-Martin
AbbeyHidden Treasure
Ancienne abbaye de Saint-Martin, located in Tours (Indre-et-Loire), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- Abbey
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Tours, Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.3933, 0.6826
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00098131
In the heart of Tours, the islet of Saint-Martin reveals the remains of a thousand-year-old abbey: a 13th-century Gothic cloister and Renaissance canonical houses, witness to a major centre of medieval Christianity.
© Wikimedia Commons / Wikipedia
History
Nestling in the urban fabric of Tours, the Saint-Martin block is one of the most moving landmarks in the Loire region's religious heritage. On this site steeped in history, where the Martinopole once stood, you can still see the strata of an uninterrupted monastic presence spanning more than a thousand years. Visitors are immediately struck by the striking contrast between the discreet nature of the complex - tucked away between the narrow streets of the old town - and the depth of its history. The cloister, the island's centrepiece, imposes its presence with the elegant rigour of its Gothic arcades. Built in the 13th century, it once organised the community life of the canons around the great basilica, whose southern flank it occupied. Now protected, this space of stone and silence offers a timeless interlude, rare in a dense urban environment. The perimeter of the cloister is bordered by the canons' houses, built in the 16th century in a beautifully restrained Renaissance style. These residences, which housed the canons of the collegiate church, bear witness to the affluence and refinement cultivated by a community at the height of its influence. Their architecture combines pilasters, mullioned windows and covered galleries in a harmony typical of Renaissance Touraine. Visiting the Islet of Saint-Martin also means coming to terms with an absence: that of the vanished basilica, whose footprint can be made out by architectural clues and pavement markings. This archaeology of the visible, which requires a trained eye and a bit of imagination, is one of the most unique experiences Tours has to offer its cultured visitors. The charm of the place is further enhanced by its setting in Tours: just a stone's throw from Saint-Gatien's Cathedral and the old town of Tours, with its half-timbered houses, the islet is part of an exceptionally rich heritage itinerary, ideal for anyone wishing to understand the spiritual and architectural power of the medieval and Renaissance Loire Valley.
Architecture
The architecture of the Saint-Martin block reflects two clearly distinct stylistic periods, which interact with a certain harmony. The cloister, dating from the 13th century, is Classical Gothic: its galleries with tiers-point arcades, punctuated by slender columns with leafy capitals, define a square space conducive to contemplation. The masonry, in the white tufa typical of the Touraine region, gives the building a soft luminosity and a visual lightness that is rare in Gothic architecture of this period. The canons' houses, built in the 16th century on the edge of the cloister, illustrate the Touraine Renaissance at its most sober and elegant. Their façades feature pilasters with capitals, stone mullioned windows and openwork balustrades, all in a decorative style inherited from Italy but adapted to local taste. The steeply pitched Anjou slate roofs add a typically Loire-style touch to the whole. Although the great medieval basilica has disappeared, its foundations and a few elevated remains can still be used to gauge the scale of an edifice that must have been several dozen metres long and rivalled the largest religious buildings in the kingdom.
Related Figures
Saint Martin de Tours — évêque évangélisateur (316-397), dont le tombeau est à l'origine de l'ensemble monastiqueAlcuin de York — abbé laïc nommé par Charlemagne (796-804), animateur de la renaissance carolingienne depuis la bibliothèque abbatialeCharlemagne — protecteur et bienfaiteur de l'abbaye, lui accordant d'importants privilèges royauxGrégoire de Tours — historien et évêque (538-594), témoin de la première vénération du tombeau de MartinVictor Laloux — architecte tourangeau (1850-1937), auteur de la nouvelle basilique Saint-Martin construite à proximité
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Ancienne abbaye de Saint-Martin located?
Ancienne abbaye de Saint-Martin is located in Tours, Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France.
When was Ancienne abbaye de Saint-Martin built?
Ancienne abbaye de Saint-Martin dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Ancienne abbaye de Saint-Martin open to visitors?
Ancienne abbaye de Saint-Martin is currently closed to visitors.