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'Tournus' is a commune of the Saône-et-Loire ''département'', in east-central France.

Contents

Geography

Sights

Economy

Miscellaneous

References

Geography

Tournus is located on the right bank of the Saône, 20 m. N. by E. of Mâcon on the Paris-Lyon railway.

Sights

The church of St Philibert at Tournus (early 11th century) once belonging to the Benedictine abbey of Tournus, suppressed in 1785, 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. The choir beneath which is a crypt of the 11th century has a deambulatory and square chapels.
In the Place de l'Hôtel de Ville stands a statue of J. B. Greuze, born in the town in 1725.

Economy

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.
(This text is somewhat dated. See the French version of this page at http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tournus for more up to date information.)

Miscellaneous

Tournus was the birthplace of Jean-Baptiste Greuze (1725–1805), French painter.
Population in 1906: 3,787.

References

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