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Tours Amphitheatre

The Tours amphitheater — also known as the Caesarodunum amphitheater — is a Roman amphitheatre located in the historic city center of Tours, France, immediately behind the well known Tours cathedral. It was built in the 1st century when the city was called Caesarodunum. It was built atop a small hill on the outskirts of the ancient urban area, making it safe from floods, convenient for crowds and visitors, and demonstrating the power of the city from a distance. The structure was an enormous, elliptical structure approximately 122 meters by 94 meters. According to it's design it is classified as a "primitive" amphitheatre. Unlike the famous Colosseum that was made mostly of masonry and built above-ground, the Tours amphitheatre was made mostly of earth and created by moving soil and rock into a bowl shape. Spectators likely sat directly on the grassy slopes, while the masonry was primarily used for the vomitoria and retaining walls. When it was expanded in the 2nd century , it became one of the largest structures in the Roman Empire. It is not clear why the amphitheater was expanded given the population and slow growth of the city at the time. About a century later, this expanded amphitheatre was transformed into a fortress, with an addition of a rampart style wall, typical during the decline of Roman Empire. It gradually fell into ruin during the Middle Ages and canonical houses were built upon it and gradually concealed it. The vomitoria were at some point transformed into cellars. The amphitheater was then completely forgotten until the 19th century, when it was rediscovered . Evidence such as the layout of the streets and radiating lots of the district drew attention to its existence. Surveys and terrain analyses in the 1960s gathered further data on the cellars of the houses which were previously built on the amphitheater walls. Over the past decade, more in-depth studies of the topography and architecture have taken place and are changing the theories and opinions surrounding this monument. The remains of the amphitheater are not protected as historic sites directly; however, some of the houses built upon it are registered as historical monuments. The ruins of the amphitheater are significant as they are among the oldest known ruins in the city and offer clues about the early history and development of the area.

Marmoutier Abbey

Marmoutier Abbey, also known as the Abbey of Marmoutier , was an early monastery outside Tours, Indre-et-Loire, France. In its later days it followed the Benedictine order as an influential monastery with many dependencies. The abbey was founded by Saint Martin of Tours , in 372, after he had been made Bishop of Tours in 371. Martin's biographer, Sulpicius Severus, affirms that Martin withdrew from the press of attention in the city to live in Marmoutier , the monastery he founded several miles from Tours on the opposite shore of the Loire River. Sulpicius described the severe restrictions of the life of Martin among the cave-dwelling cenobites who gathered around him, a rare view of a monastic community that preceded the Benedictine rule: Many also of the brethren had, in the same manner, fashioned retreats for themselves, but most of them had formed these out of the rock of the overhanging mountain, hollowed into caves. There were altogether eighty disciples, who were being disciplined after the example of the saintly master. No one there had anything which was called his own; all things were possessed in common. It was not allowed either to buy or to sell anything, as is the custom among most monks. No art was practiced there, except that of transcribers, and even this was assigned to the brethren of younger years, while the elders spent their time in prayer. Rarely did any one of them go beyond the cell, unless when they assembled at the place of prayer. They all took their food together, after the hour of fasting was past. No one used wine, except when illness compelled them to do so. Most of them were clothed in garments of camels' hair. Any dress approaching to softness was there deemed criminal, and this must be thought the more remarkable, because many among them were such as are deemed of noble rank. (Sulpicius, Vita, X) In 853 the abbey was pillaged and destroyed by Normans, who killed over 100 monks. During the years shortly after 1000 AD, the abbey grew considerably, becoming one of the richest in Europe. In the wake of the Norman Conquest the abbey acquired patronage of churches in England. In 1096 Pope Urban II consecrated its new chapel, and preached the First Crusade. Pope Calixtus II preached crusade again in 1119, convincing Count Foulques V d'Anjou to take part and leading to his subsequent role as King of Jerusalem. In 1162 Pope Alexander III, who came to reside in Tours after being chased from Rome by Frederick Barbarossa, consecrated the monastery's new Chapel Saint Benoit. The abbey eventually grew too small for its inhabitants, and was completely rebuilt at the start of the thirteenth century under the leadership of Abbot Hugues des Roches. In the following century its abbot Gérard du Puy became cardinal-nephew to the last of the Avignon popes, Gregory XI. In 1562 the abbey was again pillaged, this time by Huguenot Protestants at the start of the Wars of Religion. Again however it recovered. English diarist John Evelyn visited the abbey, and recorded this entry for June 6, 1644: The abbey was disestablished in 1799 during the French Revolution, and within a few decades the bulk of its buildings had been demolished. Henry James visited the abbey in 1883, being guided through the various buildings by "a chatty nun" as described in his book "A Little Tour in France". Today its grounds contain a private school, and of its former structures only a few ruins remain.
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