Tournus

Tournus
Commune

Coat of arms
Tournus
Location within Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region
Tournus
Coordinates: 46°33′50″N 4°54′33″E / 46.5639°N 4.9092°E / 46.5639; 4.9092Coordinates: 46°33′50″N 4°54′33″E / 46.5639°N 4.9092°E / 46.5639; 4.9092
Country France
Region Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Department Saône-et-Loire
Arrondissement Mâcon
Canton Tournus
Intercommunality Tournugeois
Government
  Mayor (2008) Jean Legros
Area1 25 km2 (10 sq mi)
Population (2006)2 6,247
  Density 250/km2 (650/sq mi)
Time zone UTC+1 (CET)
  Summer (DST) UTC+2 (CEST)
INSEE/Postal code 71543 /71700
Elevation 168–353 m (551–1,158 ft)
(avg. 193 m or 633 ft)

1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km2 (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Tournus is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.

Geography

Tournus is located on the right bank of the Saône, 20 km. northeast of Mâcon on the Paris-Lyon railway.

Sights

The church of St Philibert (early 11th century), is the main surviving building of the former Benedictine abbey of Tournus, suppressed in 1785. It is in the Burgundian Romanesque style. The façade lacks one of the two flanking towers originally designed for it. The nave is roofed with barrel vaulting, supported on tall cylindrical columns. Both the choir and the 11th century crypt beneath it have an ambulatory and side chapels.

In the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville stands a statue of Jean-Baptiste Greuze, born in the town in 1725.

Economy

Tournus is an important tourist area, with one four-star hotel (the Greuze) and one three-star hotel (the Rempart). In 2013, four restaurants had a Michelin star: the Greuze, Quartier Gourmand, Aux Terasses, and Meulien.

There are vineyards in the surrounding district and the town and its port have considerable commerce in wine and in stone from the neighboring quarries. Chairmaking is an important industry.

There are several industrial areas to the north and south-west. The town manufactures a large quantity of domestic white goods, at the Groupe SEB factory, and cookware at the Tefal factory.

There is a market every Saturday morning.

Sport

  • On 9 June 2009, the town was the start of the 182 km (113 mi) Stage 3 of the Critérium du Dauphiné Libéré cycle race.
  • On 10 July 2010, the town was en route of the 165.5 km (102.8 mi) Stage 7 of the Tour de France cycle race.

People

See also

References

  • INSEE
  •  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Tournus". Encyclopædia Britannica. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 107.
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