Page 179 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - Europe

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q Abbaye Royale the mid-16th
de Fontevraud century, and the
cathedral provides
Maine-et-Loire. @ Tel 02-41 51 73 52.
Open daily. Closed Jan, Nov–Feb: an illustration of
Mon, Dec 25. & 8 7 restricted. how the Gothic
∑ abbaye-fontevraud.com style developed over
time. The Musée des
Fontevraud Royal Abbey, Beaux Arts, housed
founded in 1101, was the largest in the nearby former
of its kind in France. It now archbishop’s palace,
hosts concerts and exhibitions. overlooks beautiful
The abbey’s nuns lived around gardens. The
the Renaissance Grand Moûtier impressive collection
cloisters, and the leper colony’s features works by the
nurses were housed in the likes of Rembrandt,
St-Lazare priory, now the Rubens, and Degas.
abbey’s hotel. Little remains of The Château Royal
the monastic quarters, but the de Tours, a royal
St-Benoît hospital survives. Most residence between
impressive is the octagonal the 13th and 15th
kitchen in the Tour Evraud, centuries, houses
a rare example of secular modern art François I’s staircase, Château de Blois
Romanesque architecture. exhibitions and
In the nave of the abbey exhibits, which explain François I, and Henri III,
church, the painted effigy of the history of Tours. Château de Blois has the most
Henry Plantagenet (1133–1189), sensational history of all the
Count of Anjou and King of e Château de Loire Châteaux. It was here,
England, lies by those of his Chenonceau in 1588, that the ambitious Duc
wife, Eleanor of Aquitaine, who de Guise, leader of the Catholic
died here in 1204, and their son, See pp178–9. Holy League, was murdered on
Richard the Lionheart (1157–1199). the orders of Henri III. The
building itself juxtaposes four
r Blois
w Tours distinct architectural styles,
Loir-et-Cher. * 60,000. £ @ reflecting its varied history.
Indre-et-Loire. * 140,000. k £ n Place du Château (02-54 90 41 41). Among Blois’ most impressive
@ n 78 Rue Bernard Palissy ( Sat. religious monuments are the
(02-47 70 37 37). ( Tue–Sun. beautiful three-spired Eglise
∑ tours-tourisme.fr A powerful feudal stronghold St-Nicolas, formerly part of a
in the 12th century, Blois rose 12th-century Benedictine abbey,
The pleasant cathedral city of to glory under Louis XII, who and the Cathédrale St-Louis,
Tours is built on the site of a established his court here in which dominates the eastern
Roman town, and became an 1498. The town remained at half of the city. The cathedral is a
important center of Christianity the center of French royal and 17th-century reconstruction of a
in the 4th century under St. political life for much of the Gothic church that was almost
Martin. In 1461, Louis XI made next century. Today, Blois is destroyed in 1678.
the city the French capital. the quintessential Loire town.
However, during Henri IV’s The partly pedestrianized old + Château de Blois
reign, the city lost favor with quarter is full of romantic Place du Château. Tel 02-54 90 33 33.
the monarchy and the capital courtyards and fine mansions. Open daily. Closed Jan 1, Dec 25.
left Tours for Paris. Home to kings Louis XII, & 8
The medieval old town, Le
Vieux Tours, is full of narrow
streets lined with beautiful half-
timbered houses. St. Martin’s
tomb lies in the crypt of the
New Basilica, built on the site of
the medieval Old Basilica. Two
towers, the Tour Charlemagne
and the Tour de l’Horloge,
survive from the earlier building.
The foundation stone of the
Cathédrale St-Gatien was laid
in the early 13th century.
Building work continued until The historic town of Blois, viewed from across the Loire

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