Tours - Tour Charlemagne

The oratory, built over the grave of Saint Martin, soon was a "Basilica Sanct Martini". A convent existed here. After Alcuin of York had worked as a scholar and teacher at the Carolingian court, he became abbot here in 796. In 818 the convent became a collegiate with more tham 200 canons.

The Collegiate Church of Saint Martin, consecrated in 1014, was one of the largest churches in medieval times. The shrine was a center of pilgrimage and a major halt for all on their way to Santiago.

This church was abandoned and vandalized during the Revolution and demolished after the vaults were collapsed in 1797. Only two towers are still standing. Here is a capital in the "Tour Charlemagne", one of the few details that survived.