Tours: The Cathedral of Saint-Gatien, Place Plumereau and Fritz the Elephant
Centre-Val de Loire, France
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225
XP
+100 France
= 325 total
1 day
Tours: The Cathedral of Saint-Gatien, Place Plumereau and Fritz the Elephant
225 + 100 XP
The cathedral of Saint-Gatien at Tours has a façade of flamboyant Gothic stonework, one of the most complete sets of 13th-century stained glass in Europe and the cloister of La Psalette, and the tomb of Saint Martin lies in the crypt of his basilica. In the old town, Place Plumereau is ringed by half-timbered houses, and in the courtyard of the Musée des Beaux-Arts a cedar of Lebanon planted in 1804 stands 31m high beside Fritz, a circus elephant of Barnum's put down in 1902 and stuffed.
Required Activities
1
of 5
In Saint-Gatien, go to the ambulatory chapels and the high windows of the choir for the 13th-century medallion glass, which the sources rate among the most perfect complete sets left in Europe, then note that the vaults are only 29 m up against Chartres's 37.50 m and decide which building feels taller. Outside, compare the north tower of 1507 with the south tower of 1534–1547, and find the cloître de la Psalette on the north side, named for the psalm school it housed
2
of 5
Walk out of the Vieux-Tours from Place Plumereau and its half-timbered fronts to the cathedral, and find the tomb of Charles VIII's children there — carved for the nave of Saint-Martin early in the 16th century and moved into Saint-Gatien in 1834 when the old basilica had already gone
3
of 5
In the formal garden of the Musée des Beaux-Arts, stand under the cedar of Lebanon planted in 1804 under Napoleon — 31 m high with a spread of 33 m — then go across to the annexe in the palace's old stables for Fritz: an Asian elephant of Barnum & Bailey's, 2.90 m at the shoulder and about 7.5 tonnes, a tonne of that his 5 cm hide, strangled in the streets of Tours on 11 June 1902 after he turned uncontrollable on the circus's European tour, and given to the town and mounted the following year
4
of 5
Go down to Saint Martin's tomb in the crypt of Victor Laloux's neo-Byzantine basilica of 1886–1902, then step outside and follow the paving set into the rue des Halles that marks where the pillars of the medieval nave stood — the church was turned into a stable in 1793 and pulled down after its vaults fell in 1797 — and find the two towers that survived it, the tour Charlemagne and the tour de l'Horloge
5
of 5
Compare the two extremes of glass in the same building: the four contemporary windows Gérard Collin-Thiébaut and Pierre-Alain Parot put into the previously empty north transept after the 2011 competition, and in the ambulatory the panels the chapter bought around 1800 from the town's demolished churches, Saint-Julien and Saint-Martin among them
In Saint-Gatien, go to the ambulatory chapels and the high windows of the choir for the 13th-century medallion glass, which the sources rate among the most perfect complete sets left in Europe, then note that the vaults are only 29 m up against Chartres's 37.50 m and decide which building feels taller. Outside, compare the north tower of 1507 with the south tower of 1534–1547, and find the cloître de la Psalette on the north side, named for the psalm school it housed
Walk out of the Vieux-Tours from Place Plumereau and its half-timbered fronts to the cathedral, and find the tomb of Charles VIII's children there — carved for the nave of Saint-Martin early in the 16th century and moved into Saint-Gatien in 1834 when the old basilica had already gone
In the formal garden of the Musée des Beaux-Arts, stand under the cedar of Lebanon planted in 1804 under Napoleon — 31 m high with a spread of 33 m — then go across to the annexe in the palace's old stables for Fritz: an Asian elephant of Barnum & Bailey's, 2.90 m at the shoulder and about 7.5 tonnes, a tonne of that his 5 cm hide, strangled in the streets of Tours on 11 June 1902 after he turned uncontrollable on the circus's European tour, and given to the town and mounted the following year
Go down to Saint Martin's tomb in the crypt of Victor Laloux's neo-Byzantine basilica of 1886–1902, then step outside and follow the paving set into the rue des Halles that marks where the pillars of the medieval nave stood — the church was turned into a stable in 1793 and pulled down after its vaults fell in 1797 — and find the two towers that survived it, the tour Charlemagne and the tour de l'Horloge
Compare the two extremes of glass in the same building: the four contemporary windows Gérard Collin-Thiébaut and Pierre-Alain Parot put into the previously empty north transept after the 2011 competition, and in the ambulatory the panels the chapter bought around 1800 from the town's demolished churches, Saint-Julien and Saint-Martin among them
Before you go
Fritz stands in an annexe of the Musée des Beaux-Arts, the old palace stables, not in the main galleries — ask at the desk which door, because visitors routinely miss him. The cloître de la Psalette is entered separately from the cathedral and keeps its own hours. All four sites are within a fifteen-minute walk in the Vieux-Tours, and the streets round Place Plumereau are pedestrian, so park outside the old town.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
225 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
325 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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