Tours

Tours stands on the Loire in the heart of Touraine. The shrine of Saint Martin drew pilgrims to the city throughout the Middle Ages, while merchants carried goods along the river. Its churches and schools made Tours a religious and intellectual centre as well as a prosperous town.

In the fifteenth century the French court favoured Touraine, and Louis XI established himself at nearby Plessis-lès-Tours. He granted the city municipal institutions and encouraged the manufacture of silk, bringing workers from Lyon in 1470. The workshops prospered under royal patronage, and silk became one of the city’s most celebrated crafts. Charles VIII later granted the makers privileges, and printers and sculptors also found work in the city as the court enriched it.