Timeline of Tours
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Tours, France.
Prior to 18th century
- 1st C. – Construction of the Tours Amphitheatre. Population approx. 6,000.
- 2nd C. – Tours amphitheatre expanded
- 3rd C. – Roman Catholic diocese of Tours established.
- 250 – Tours Amphitheatre turned into a fortification
- 4th C. – Cathedral built by.
- 327 - Marmoutier Abbey founded.
- 360 – Castrum added to the area around the fortified amphitheatre.
- 371 – Martin of Tours becomes bishop.
- 5th C. – Caesarodunum renamed "Civitas Turonorum."
- 435 – Tours "affiliated to the Armorican confederation." Ecclesiastical province of Tours established.
- 461 – Religious Council of Tours held.
- 473 – Visigoths in power.
- 567 – Second Council of Tours held.
- 573 – Gregory of Tours becomes bishop.
- 732 – Battle of Tours fought nearby.
- 796
- * Marmoutier Abbey scriptorium active.
- * Charlemagne put Marmoutier Abbey into the care of Alcuin of York.
- 813 – Third Council of Tours held.
- 10th C. – City walls of Châteauneuf built around basilica of St. Martin.
- 853 & 903 - Normans pilaged.
- 998 – Fire.
- 11th C. – Château de Tours built.
- 11th–12th C. – Church of St Martin built.
- 1034 – built.
- 1055 – Council of Tours held.
- 1163 – Council of Tours (1163) held.
- 1170 – Tours Cathedral construction begins.
- 1203 – Livre tournois became the official currency of the kingdom.
- 1236 – held.
- 1308 – Estates General of Tours held.
- ca.1420 - Jean Fouquet, painter, was born in Tours.
- 1444 – Treaty of Tours. Tours became capital de facto of France.
- 1460 – Touraine customary laws codified.
- 1464 – Louis XI, the "universal spider", created the system of royal postal roads, first roads started from Tours.
- 1468 – Estates General of Tours held.
- 1484 – Estates General of Tours held.
- 1506 – Estates General of Tours held.
- 1542 – Généralité of Tours created.
- 1547 - Tours Cathedral building completed.
- 1562 – Religious unrest.
- 1589 – Treaty of Plessis-les-Tours.
- 1594 – Parliament of Tours returned to Paris. Kings definitely returned to Paris area.
18th century
- 1761 – established.
- 1778 – Stone Bridge built.
- 1790 – Tours becomes part of the Indre-et-Loire souveraineté.
- 1798 – Church of St Martin demolished.
- 1799 – 20 May: Birth of Honoré de Balzac.
19th century
- 1800 – Population: 20,240.
- 1801 –, -Centre, and -Nord created.
- 1803 – Chamber of Commerce established.
- 1840 – Société archéologique de Touraine founded.
- 1843 – Jardin botanique de Tours founded.
- 1846 - Tours station opened.
- 1855 - Tours Amphitheatre rediscovered.
- 1858 – Tours–Le Mans railway begins operating.
- 1861 – Population: 41,061.
- 1867 – Union Libérale newspaper begins publication.
- 1870 – Tours becomes temporary "seat of French government, during siege of Paris."
- 1872 – built.
- 1877 – begins operating.
- 1886 – Population: 59,585.
- 1889 – Tours Municipal Theatre reopened after fire.
- 1898 – Gare de Tours built.
20th century
- 1904 – Hôtel de Ville completed.
- 1906 – Population: 67,601.
- 1911 – Population: 73,398.
- 1917 – American Expeditionary Forces' "chief supply base" set up at Tours, during World War I.
- 1924 – Basilica of St. Martin, Tours rebuilt.
- 1949 – begins operating.
- 1957 – built.
- 1962 – Population: 92,944.
- 1968 – established.
- 1969 – François Rabelais University founded.
- 1978
- * April: Collapse of Wilson Bridge (Tours).
- * Stade de la Vallée du Cher opens.
- * Musée des Equipages Militaires et du Train established.
- 1982 – Tours becomes part of the Centre-Val de Loire region.
- 1999 – Population: 132,820.
21st century
- 2011 – Population: 134,633.
- 2013 – Tours tramway begins operating.
- 2014
- * March: held.
- * Serge Babary becomes mayor.