 Sulpicius affirms that Martin withdrew from the city to live in Marmoutier ("Majus Monasterium"), the monastery he founded, which faces Tours from the opposite shore of the Loire.Recent excavations under the abbey church have revealed the traces of a Roman posting station, beside the main Roman road along the north bank of the Loire, which seems to have been the original dwelling for the community; the "caves" on the site are post-Roman and are probably the result of quarrying the coteau for the Romanesque abbey buildings.