History

338: St Lidoire built the first church.

590: Gregory of Tours rebuilt the church and dedicated it to st Maurice.

XII^th c: they rebuilt the church in angevin gothic style.

1236-1270: Louis IX and Blanche of Castile gave money to rebuilt the choir in rayonnant gothic style.

XIV^thc: they rebuilt the transept and the nave; the cathedral is dedicated to St Gatien, first bishop of Tours.

1450-1547: they built the facade and the two towers.

Nave

Here we are in the nave of the cathedral, there are two side aisles. We see the three levels: great arcades, triforium, and clerestory.

It’s one of the first cathedrals of the XIII^th c. to have an open triforium, and it gives this abundant light to the inside. We can notice the evolution of the construction through this triforium : the style changes from the choir (rayonnant gothic) to the portal (flamboyant gothic).

The nave is 29m high; we can see the cross-rib vaults and the keystones linked by liernes.

Choir

The choir is a very important part of the construction. In fact, from 1236 to 1270, they wanted to rebuild the cathedral and they began with the choir which was ruined. Louis IX and his mother Blanche of Castile gave a lot of money for that, that’s why we can see their coats of arms in different parts of this cathedral.

And we can notice that this choir has a lot of common points with the Sainte Chapelle in Paris, also built thanks to Louis IX. Scholars think it was the same architect than in Paris. Like in Paris, the walls are thinner and thinner and give a lot of room to stained glass windows; it is the same style of rayonnant gothic.

Rayonnant gothic:

We must say a word about rayonnant gothic: it is a style which appeared from 1240, and whose caracteristics is the great place given to light through stained-glass windows: the cathedral looks like a glass cage and the walls became a mere stone skeleton. The triforium is very often an open triforium, to give more light, and the rose windows are frequently used.

Restauration:

The choir and its stained-glass windows were restaured in 2002 during 8 years, and they deciced to protect the exterior part of the glass against bad weather, with a special pratice by a glassmaker from Tours, so the cathedral was the first building to benefit from this practice.

Altar:

This rock symbolizes the fundamental stone of the Church, because Christ said he was the cornerstone of the Church. It is also a way to evoke Christ like the rock from which the water springs like in the book of Exodus. And it represents also the broken stone of the open tomb after Resurrection.

St Maurice:

We have to say a word about St Maurice who was the former patron saint of the cathedral. In 590, St Gregory of Tours, who was bishop of Tours, decided to build the second church, because the first was destroyed in a fire. And he dedicated it to St Maurice, who was the leader of the Roman Theban Legion in the Third century. He died as a martyr, because he didn’t want to kill Christian people and also because he didn’t want to sacrifice to the Roman gods.

The tomb of Charles VIII’s children:

Here is the tomb of Charles Orlando (1492-1495) who died of the measles, and Charles (who lived 25 days in 1496), two of the sons of Charles VIII and Ann of Britanny.

This tomb was initially in the choir of the basilica St Martin, but after the French Révolution it was moved to the cathedral in 1823.

It’s a marble tomb, or a sarcophagus, with 4 sides very sculpted and decorated.

It is divided in to 3 parts :

-The upper part is composed of the children’s recumbent figures, with four knelt cherubs who hold the coat of arms of France and Dauphiné. The chidren are represented with their royal garment. They are said to be sculpted by Michel Colombe, a sculptor from Tours, and his working group, for exemple Guillaume Regnault his nephew. They show the French sculpture of the XVth c.

-In the middle part we see foliated scrolls with little scenes of Samson’s life (Samson with Gaza gate; Samson and the lion; Samson and Delilah) and episodes of Hercules’ story, mainly struggles and fights, which prefigure Christ’s struggle against evil and death. At each angle there is a dolphin.

-The lower part shows putti (figures of human babies) holding the coat of arms. At each corner there is a pattern often represented on children’s tumb: paws, wings and fins to bring souls overland, by the seas and through the airs towards Heaven.

This part and the middle part were made by Jerome de Fiesole, an Italian sculptor who came from Italy with Charles VIII. It’s the first monument in Tours showing the Italian influence. It announces the Renaissance style in Tours.

It is a transition work from gothic style to Renaissance style : the four knelt cherubs have still gothic features (adult faces, long garment, long hair…) whereas the putti have yet Renaissance characteristics (young babies, naked, short hair…).

The cloister of the Psalette (XV^th)

Another interesting caracteristic of this cathedral is the cloister of the Psalette. We learnt that in the Middle Ages cathedrals were surrounded by other buildings which disappeared most of the time. Around the cathedral of Tours lived a chapter of canons, which owned a library, a scriptorium, a chapter room and a cloister. They ruled a choir of young students who learnt how to sing gregorian chants, and how to sing psaulms, hence the name of Psalette.