Gare de Tours (Tours Station), Tours

The first railway station in Tours was built by Phidias Vestier. The station opened in 1846 on the site of the current Place du General-Leclerc. It was called L'Embarcadere.

The present station building was built in 1898 by architect Victor Laloux. Laloux was much in demand at the time. The Gare project was followed by his direction of the City Hall of Tours in 1904.

Four limestone status adorn the entrance. Two by Jean Antoine Injalbert represent the cities of Bordeaux and Toulouse and two by Jean-Baptiste Hugues represent Limoges and Nantes. Painted earthenware panels are by Eugene Martial Simas.

This project was part of the effort to merge the Paris-Orleans line with the State Railways. When the Tours tramway was constructed in 2013, station annexes were demolished. Buildings along the old connecting streets between rue des Aumones to the Place du General-Leclerc were razed. The rue de Nantes was replaced by the Tramway.

Tours Station is an impressive big train station for a city of its size and is definitely worth a visit.