page_title: Tours
hierarchical_section_title: Tours
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Hôtel de Ville, Tours, Indre-et-Loire, Centre, France. English: Town Hall, Tours, Indre-et-Loire, Centre, France.
context_page_description: Tours is the prefecture of the Indre-et-Loire department and largest city in the Centre-Val de Loire region of Western France, although it is not the regional prefecture, which is the region's second-largest city, Orléans. In 2012, the commune of Tours had 134,978 inhabitants; the population of the whole metropolitan area was 483,744.
  Tours stands on the lower reaches of the Loire river, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. The surrounding district, the traditional province of Touraine, is known for its wines, for the alleged perfection of its local spoken French, and for the Battle of Tours. The city is also the end-point of the annual Paris–Tours cycle race.
context_section_description: Tours (/tʊər/ TOOR, French: [tuʁ] (listen)) is the prefecture of the Indre-et-Loire department and largest city in the Centre-Val de Loire region of Western France, although it is not the regional prefecture, which is the region's second-largest city, Orléans. In 2012, the commune of Tours had 134,978 inhabitants; the population of the whole metropolitan area was 483,744.
  Tours stands on the lower reaches of the Loire river, between Orléans and the Atlantic coast. The surrounding district, the traditional province of Touraine, is known for its wines, for the alleged perfection (as perceived by some speakers and for historical reasons) of its local spoken French, and for the Battle of Tours (732). The city is also the end-point of the annual Paris–Tours cycle race.
caption: Tours City Hall and Place Jean Jaurès
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