Gare de Tours
MonumentHidden Treasure
Gare de Tours, located in Tours (Indre-et-Loire), is a historic monument. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Location
- Tours, Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.3891, 0.6942
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00098161
A Beaux-Arts masterpiece by Victor Laloux, Tours station (1896) boasts a monumental façade adorned with allegorical statues and Sarreguemines ceramics, a foretaste of the future Musée d'Orsay.
© Wikimedia Commons / Wikipedia
History
Inaugurated in 1896, Tours station is one of the most beautiful provincial railway stations in France, an accomplished synthesis of Belle Époque railway architecture. Its architect, Victor Laloux, a native of Tours, gave it a facade of rare magnificence, comparable to the great public institutions of his time rather than a simple transport facility. Visitors arriving at Place du Général-Leclerc are struck by the scale and coherence of this composition, a veritable architectural introduction to the gentle atmosphere of Anjou and Touraine. What really sets Tours station apart is the richness of its decorative programme. The façade is enlivened by four monumental statues personifying the major cities served by the Compagnie du Paris-Orléans network - Bordeaux, Toulouse, Limoges and Nantes - the work of leading academic sculptors. Between cut stone and glazed ceramic, the Sarreguemines earthenware panels illustrate the tourist landscapes of the network, offering a journey within the journey even before boarding. The interior is also full of surprises: the two metal halls, each 31 metres wide, bathe the platforms in a diffuse light filtered through the glass roofs. The combination of metal and stone, technical prowess and classical décor, reflects the ambitions of an era that saw the railway as a symbol of triumphant progress. Now listed as a historic monument since 1984, the station remains an active railway hub and a symbol of identity for the people of Touraine. Passing through it, even on a whim, is an architectural interlude that few travellers really take the time to enjoy.
Architecture
Tours station is fully in keeping with the Beaux-Arts style, the dominant academic trend in French public architecture at the end of the 19th century. The main facade, designed entirely by Victor Laloux, adopts a symmetrical tripartite composition, with a monumental central pavilion, crowned by a dome and a clock, and flanked by two wings punctuated by semi-circular arches and Corinthian pilasters. The carefully crafted ashlar lends the building a nobility typical of large institutional buildings. The sculpted decoration is omnipresent and constitutes the building's true artistic manifesto. Four colossal statues - of Bordeaux, Toulouse, Limoges and Nantes - dominate the façade, personifying the regions served by Compagnie du Paris-Orléans. Between these allegorical figures, brightly coloured enamelled ceramic panels made in Sarreguemines depict picturesque views of the regions they pass through, combining industrial art and architectural decor in a spirit close to the emerging decorative arts. Behind this prestigious façade are two large metal halls, each with a 31-metre span, designed by the engineers of the Compagnie du Paris-Orléans and built by Moisant Laurent et Savey. Their metal framework, typical of the civil engineering of the Belle Époque, stands on cast-iron pillars and opens onto large glass windows that let in natural light from the platforms. The combination of the solemnity of the stone façade and the technical lightness of the metal halls is a perfect illustration of the aesthetic dualism of French railway architecture during this period.
Related Figures
Victor Laloux — architecte de la façade, natif de Tours, futur concepteur de la gare d'OrsayJean Hugues — sculpteur des statues allégoriques de Limoges et de NantesJean-Antoine Injalbert — sculpteur des statues allégoriques de Bordeaux et de ToulouseHenri Varenne — sculpteur responsable de la taille définitive des statues monumentalesSimas — céramiste auteur des panneaux de paysages touristiquesManufacture de Sarreguemines — faïencerie lorraine ayant fabriqué les panneaux en céramiqueEntreprise Moisant Laurent et Savey — réalisatrice des halles métalliques
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Gare de Tours located?
Gare de Tours is located in Tours, Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire region, France.
Is Gare de Tours open to visitors?
Gare de Tours is currently closed to visitors.