# Timeline of Tours

The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Tours, France.

## Prior to 18th century

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* 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 Litorius (bishop) [fr].
* 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 (approximate date).
** 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 – Pont d'Eudes [fr] (bridge) built (approximate date).
* 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 – Council of Tours (1236) [fr] held.
* 1308 – Estates General of Tours (1308) 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 (1468) held.
* 1484 – Estates General of Tours (1484) held.
* 1506 – Estates General of Tours (1506) held.
* 1542 – Généralité of Tours created (included Touraine, Maine and Anjou).
* 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 – Académie des sciences, arts et belles-lettres de Touraine [fr] established.
* 1778 – Stone Bridge [fr] 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 – Canton of Tours-Sud [fr], -Centre, and -Nord created.
* 1803 – Chamber of Commerce established.
* 1840 – Société archéologique de Touraine founded.
* 1843 – Jardin botanique de Tours (garden) 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 – Tours Municipal Theatre [fr] built.
* 1877 – Tours tramway (1877) [fr] begins operating.
* 1886 – Population: 59,585.
* 1889 – Tours Municipal Theatre reopened after fire.
* 1898 – Gare de Tours (rail station) 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 (approximate date), during World War I.
* 1924 – Basilica of St. Martin, Tours rebuilt.
* 1949 – Tours trolleybus [fr] begins operating.
* 1957 – Bibliothèque municipale de Tours [fr] (library) built.
* 1962 – Population: 92,944.
* 1968 – Musée du Compagnonnage [fr] established.
* 1969 – François Rabelais University founded.
* 1978
** April: Collapse of Wilson Bridge (Tours) [fr].
** Stade de la Vallée du Cher (stadium) opens.
** Musée des Equipages Militaires et du Train (museum) 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: Tours municipal election, 2014 [fr] held.
** Serge Babary becomes mayor.