Église Saint-Grégoire des Minimes, Historical church in Tours, France.
Église Saint-Grégoire des Minimes is a church on Rue de la Préfecture in Tours, next to Lycée Descartes. Its pale limestone walls and steep dark slate roofs include a tall pointed-arch window with two vertical divisions and a carved stone entrance framing a dark double door. Inside, woodwork made between 1677 and 1679 by three joiners and two cabinetmakers includes a carved oak baldachin; three side chapels have retables and statues of the Virgin Mary, Saint Anne and Saint Joachim.
The building was founded in 1627 as part of a Minim friars convent, survived the French Revolution, and later served as a warehouse and military post. The original structure underwent significant changes after a major flood in 1628, which permanently altered its architectural design.
Since 1981 the church has been used by the Priestly Fraternity of Saint Pius X, which celebrates the Tridentine rite here. The building is also linked to the neighbouring Lycée Descartes, whose chapel it was from 1857 until 1981, and it is usually open to visitors during the Heritage Days.
The building sits near Lycée Descartes on Rue de la Préfecture and is not always open to visitors. The best opportunity to view the interior comes during the annual Heritage Days, when the doors open to the public.
The three side chapels were added after the December 1628 Loire flood collapsed the north wall of the church under construction; the builders revised the original plan to include them. Their retables and statues depict the Virgin Mary, Saint Anne and Saint Joachim in the first chapel.
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