Centre de Création Contemporaine Olivier Debré

The CCC-OD is Tours's contemporary art centre, opened in 2017 in a new building behind the Saint-Julien Abbey. Three floors of exhibition space host both the permanent Olivier Debré collection — large abstract paintings inspired by the Loire — and rotating shows of international contemporary art.

The building is worth the visit in its own right. From the upper galleries you get unusual views over the rooftops of the old city. There's a small café on the ground floor and a good bookshop with a strong art-publishing section. Closed Mondays.

things to do museum art
A story
The building is by the Portuguese-Brazilian firm Aires Mateus and was completed in 2017, a clean white box that stands deliberately in counterpoint to the half-timbered houses behind it. The collection is built around a major donation from the Tours-born abstract painter Olivier Debré, whose vast colour-field landscapes hang in the main galleries.