Tour Charlemagne (Tours, France)
N 47° 23.592 E 000° 40.953
31T E 325115 N 5251464
Magnificent Romanesque Charlemagne Tower (La Tour Charlemagne) is one of two remaining towers of huge early medieval Basilica of St. Martin in Tours...
Waymark Code: WMRV2C
Location: Centre-Val-de-Loire, France
Date Posted: 08/05/2016
Views: 21
Magnificent Romanesque Charlemagne Tower (La Tour Charlemagne) is one of two remaining towers of huge early medieval Basilica of St. Martin in Tours...
The Basilica of St. Martin (Basilique St-Martin), on the Via Turonensis from Paris, was one of the great pilgrimage churches of France. It was originally built in the late 400s to house the St. Martin's tomb and then greatly upsized after several fires and rebuilds, until the Huguenots came along in 1562 and did a pillage job. The huge old Romanesque structure never recovered, getting more and more dilapidated until, like many of her sisters in France, she was made into stables and stores in the early post-revolution 1790s, before generally collapsing shortly afterwards. At the beginning of the 1800s most of the huge monastic site was cleared and used for roads and housing. A new basilica was built in the corner to house St Martin's tomb, an unexpected survivor in the surrounding mess.
The Charlemagne Tower is one of two till now remaining parts of the Old Basilica...
La tour Charlemagne est un vestige d'une ancienne basilique dédiée à saint Martin de Tours et située à Tours, rue des Halles, dans le centre historique de la ville. Elle est classée Monument historique depuis le 13 septembre 1958.
Son nom viendrait du tombeau de Luitgarde d'Alémanie, quatrième épouse de Charlemagne, qui décéda le 4 juin 800 lors du séjour de l'empereur à Tours. La tradition rapporte que l'empereur la fit enterrer sous ou à proximité de l'édifice3, mais les avis sont très partagés quant à l'emplacement exact du tombeau, jamais formellement identifié. [wiki]