Tours

France

Also known as: Caesarodunum, Civitas Turonorum

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Article History

Tours, city, capital of Indre-et-Loire département, Centre région, west-central France, on the Loire River. It is the chief tourist centre for the Loire valley and its historic châteaus. Early records show that the Turones, a pre-Roman Gallic people, settled on the right bank of the Loire River. The Romans moved the settlement across the river and called it Caesarodunum, but from the 5th century it was known as Civitas Turonorum. The settlement was evangelized in the mid-3rd century by the early Christian ecclesiastic and missionary Gatien, who founded the bishopric. The Christian community remained small, however, until the second half ...(100 of 723 words)

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