Basilica of Saint-Martin, Tours

Basilica of Saint-Martin, Tours is in Tours, Centre-Val de Loire, France and is a major French pilgrimage basilica built over the tomb of St. Martin of Tours, one of the most influential saints of late antiquity and medieval Europe.. Martin of Tours was buried at Tours in 397, and successive churches grew around his tomb.

Much of the great medieval basilica was destroyed after the French Revolution. The tomb site was recovered in the 19th century, and construction of the present Romano-Byzantine basilica by architect Victor Laloux began in 1887. The new basilica was consecrated in 1925.

Architecturally, the site is principally Romano-Byzantine. Pilgrims venerate the tomb and relics of St. Martin, whose cult made Tours one of medieval Western Europe’s great pilgrimage destinations. Religious life or devotional practice associated with the site includes Mass, prayer, and veneration at the tomb.

The modern basilica deliberately re-established a visible sanctuary at the historic burial place after the loss of the medieval church, allowing the old pilgrimage focus on Martin’s tomb to continue within a new architectural setting.