Deux caves du 10e et du 15e siècle
MonumentHidden Treasure
Deux caves du 10e et du 15e siècle, 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
- autre
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Tours, Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.3941, 0.6834
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00098136
Buried beneath Tours, these two medieval cellars reveal a thousand years of layered history: a 10th-century stone cylinder, a vestige of the Châteauneuf walls, topped by 15th-century Gothic rib vaults.
© Wikimedia Commons
History
Beneath the cobblestones of Tours lies one of the most discreet and precious enigmas of the Loire's heritage: two medieval cellars superimposing a thousand years of history in a confined space, sheltered from view and time. Listed as historic monuments since 1941, they provide rare architectural evidence of the permanence of urban structures from the early Middle Ages to the end of the Late Middle Ages. The first of these cellars is a circular space with walls built in a careful "petit appareil", a late Roman and Carolingian technique that involves assembling small, regularly cut stones. Dating from the 10th century, this room is what was the original ground floor of the north-east corner tower of the Châteauneuf enclosure - the canonical quarter of Tours, founded around the tomb of Saint Martin. Over the centuries, the accumulation of fill and traffic levels buried this level, transforming it into a cellar. In the 15th century, the room was re-floored, its age-old stones now framing a new Gothic cap. The second cellar, communicating directly with the first, was built entirely in the 15th century, taking advantage of the existing surrounding walls. Its four rib-vaulted bays create a sober, majestic space, characteristic of the functional Gothic style typical of ecclesiastical cellars in the Loire region. The articulation of the ribs and the quality of the local stonework - the white tufa so dear to Touraine - give the whole an elegance that would not have been denied by the builders of the great abbeys of the Loire. The experience of visiting the site is a literal plunge into the stratification of time: step through the door, down a few steps and you find yourself face to face with walls that have seen the canons of Châteauneuf, medieval merchants, the Wars of Religion and the Revolution. For enthusiasts of building archaeology, urban heritage or medieval architecture, these cellars represent a living document of inestimable value, all too often ignored in favour of the Loire châteaux that monopolise visitors' attention.
Architecture
The architectural interest of these two cellars lies precisely in their chronological juxtaposition: they form a manual of medieval underground masonry. The circular cellar dating from the 10th century has walls of "petit appareil", i.e. small, regular cut rubble laid in neat courses. This method of construction, inherited from Roman techniques and widespread in Carolingian and post-Carolingian buildings, gives the walls a dense, tight texture, quite distinct from the large courses of tufa stone more commonly associated with the Middle Ages. The circular shape of this space is characteristic of the surrounding towers of the period, combining structural solidity with economy of materials. The 15th-century cladding that now tops this circular space creates a striking stylistic dialogue between the archaic rigour of the walls and the Gothic lightness of the ribs. The second cellar, built entirely in the 15th century, has four rib-vaulted bays, the ribs of which fall on culottes or colonnettes set into the recovered surrounding walls. Touraine tuffeau, a soft, light-coloured limestone quarried from the slopes of the Loire, is the main material used in this construction, as it is for the vast majority of medieval buildings in the region. Because it was so easy to cut, Gothic masons were able to create precise and elegant rib profiles, typical of the late flamboyant Gothic style found in the great canons and monastic cellars of the Loire Valley.
Related Figures
Saint Martin de Tours — évêque évangélisateur dont le tombeau fonda le quartier de Châteauneuf et justifie toute l'histoire du siteLes chanoines de Saint-Martin — communauté ecclésiastique qui fit bâtir et entretint l'enceinte de Châteauneuf du Xe au XVe siècleLouis XI — roi de France qui séjourna fréquemment à Tours au XVe siècle et favorisa le renouveau architectural de la régionLes maçons tourangeaux du XVe siècle — artisans anonymes maîtrisant l'art de la voûte d'ogives et du tuffeau ligérien
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Deux caves du 10e et du 15e siècle located?
Deux caves du 10e et du 15e siècle is located in Tours, Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France.
When was Deux caves du 10e et du 15e siècle built?
Deux caves du 10e et du 15e siècle dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Deux caves du 10e et du 15e siècle open to visitors?
Deux caves du 10e et du 15e siècle is currently closed to visitors.