Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: 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.

The Basilica of St. Martin (left) was erected over St. Martin´s tomb. It was built between 1886 and 1924 by French architect Victor Laloux in a neo-Byzantine style. It replaced the huge medieval church, where 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, one of them is the "Tour Charlemagne", seen in the background.It once rose over the north arm of the transept. According to the local tradition, the name of the tower alludes to the site of the sepulchre of Luitgarde, Charlemagne's wife, who died in 800 in Tours. After the demolition of the preceding church, one of the largest in Europe in medieval times, the tomb of Saint-Martin was lost. It was rediscovered in 1860.