Timeline of Tours

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

Prior to 18th century

 * 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.
 * 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 – (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 – 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 – established.
 * 1778 – 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 –, -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 – built.
 * 1877 – begins operating.
 * 1886 – Population: 59,585.
 * 1889 – Tours Municipal Theatre reopened after fire.
 * 1898 – Gare de Tours (rail station) built.

20th century

 * 1904 – built.
 * 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 – begins operating.
 * 1957 – (library) built.
 * 1962 – Population: 92,944.
 * 1968 – established.
 * 1969 – François Rabelais University founded.
 * 1978
 * April: Collapse of .(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: held.
 * Serge Babary becomes mayor.