In this paper we describe a novel technique for the fabrication of aluminosilicate microfibres and microtubes which are shown to act as optical cylindrical microresonators. The alumosilicate microfibres and microtubes were fabricated by using vacuum-assisted wetting and filtration of silica gel through a microchannel glass matrix. The microfibres and microtubes were studied using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), micro-photoluminescence spectroscopy and fluorescence lifetime imaging confocal microscopy. In the emission spectra of the micro-resonators we find very narrow periodic peaks corresponding to the whispering gallery modes of two orthogonal polarizations with quality factors up to 3200. A strong enhancement in photoluminescence decay rates at high excitation power demonstrates the occurrence of amplified spontaneous emission from a single microtube. These microtubes show a large evanescent field extending many microns beyond the tube radius. Potential applications for these novel microresonators will be in the area of optical microsensors for a single molecule detection of biological and chemical species, including anti-terrorism and defense sectors.