Tours

The Romanesque cathedral was dedicated to St. Maurice. Falling into ruins, it was rebuilt circa 1236. The two towers date to the 16th century. In the 14th century, it was re-dedicated to St. Gatien, the first bishop of Tours.

THE WALL PAINTINGS (14th century)

South wall: paintings discovered in 1855 and restored in 1994. They adorn a recess and are flanked by two niches housing statues. In the upper register, two barely legible coats of arms; in the lower register, "Saint Martin Dividing his Cloak" surmounted by a Latin inscription, part of which can be deciphered.

L'inscription: ... Clamideur cum paupere dimidiavit ut facianus idem ... : He shared his cloak with a poor man, so that we should do the same

While Martin was still a soldier he experienced a vision: He was at the gates of the city of Amiens with his soldiers when he met a beggar. He cut his cloak in half and shared it with the beggar. That night he dreamed that Jesus Christ came to him and returned the half cloak Martin had shared with him. He heard Jesus say to the angels: "Here is Martin, the Roman soldier who is not baptised, he has clad me." When Martin woke his cloak was restored. The miraculous cloak was preserved as a relic, and entered the relic-collection of the Merovingian kings of the Franks. The Latin word for "short cloak", cappella in Latin, was extended to the people charged with preserving the cloak of St. Martin, the cappellani or "chaplains" and from them was applied to the royal oratory that was not a regular church, a "chapel"

Saint Maurice

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