|
Paradoxplace South West France Photo and History Pages Paradoxplace France Photo & History Pages Links to French Cathedral and Abbey Photo Pages in Paradoxplace
Poitiers
The best of the "base towns" we visited during our September / October 2007 French explorations
Link to Maps of the Pilgrimage Roads of France
Back to Paradoxplace South West France Pages
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
The Palace building dates in part from the 1000s and housed the courts of the powerful Counts of Poitou / Dukes of Aquitaine. Aliénor (Eleanor) d'Aquitaine, who was Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right, spent quite a bit of time here early and late in her life. She was the granddaughter of the lustily famous troubadour Duke William (Guillaume) IX of Aquitaine.
It is possible that Joan of Arc's first "examination" took place in the great hall - the largest medieval hall etc etc (photo below) (all things are possible in medieval reconstructions and tourist brochures). Certainly the event, which was a 1429 examination of her virginity and fitness to lead the French army, happened in Poitiers. The famous trial that condemned Joan was held in Rouen in the next year, after which she was burned at the stake. Between 1450 and 1456 a trial of nullification determined that Joan was wrongly condemned at trial 2, and was therefore a martyr.
Link to a website about Joan's life
Since the French Revolution (late 1700s) the Palace has housed the courts of law, and the great hall is now an hugely oversized entry vestibule occupied by little clumps of unhappy young people awaiting their moment in the courts on the left.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Notre Dame la Grande and its famous Romanesque Facade
Despite the name, Notre Dame la Grande is not very big - it was probably called la Grande to distinguish it from other, now vanished, more petite Notre Dame churches in the centre of Poitiers. Of the "narrative levels" of the Romanesque facade, the bottom one is by far the most interesting.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Église Ste-Radegonde
The raised and painted apse / ambulatory area of the old Abbey Church of Queen Ste-Radegonde's convent (her tomb is in the crypt underneath).
|
|
|
|
|
|
Église St-Hilaire
The large Abbey Church of St-Hilaire (Bishop of Poitiers c350) has the tallest apse structure of the Poitiers' churches, which gives it a much more elegant and dimensionally balanced appearance than some of its squat siblings. It also has some interesting soft coloured and delicate frescos and a few carved capitals. Don't hold your breath about the quality of the much restructured nave, the result of church shrinking and at one stage the need for a complete rebuild of the west end.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poitiers Cathedrale St-Pierre
This photo shows the bottom part of the very beautiful c1160 east window of the Cathedrale St-Pierre in Poitiers. In the central base frame are (it is thought) the window's donors - Aliénor (Eleanor) d'Aquitaine (left) and King Henry II Plantagenet, though the inscriptions to either side of them remain unfathomable. The bottom part of this panel is hidden behind a stone balustrade which is sad because the window is one of the few reasons for going to the cathedral.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Baptistère Saint-Jean
No prizes for architectural attractiveness, but the Baptistère Saint-Jean, which claims to be the oldest "church" in France, has an interesting jumble of medieval fresco bits on the walls and miscellaneous stone bric-a-brac lying around.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poitiers Musée Saint Croix
A bishop's blessing - 900s or 1000s
|
|
|
|
|
|
Poitiers - Place du Maréchal Leclerc and Hôtel de Ville (City Hall) - the van and exhibition tents belong to La Caravane des Entrepeneurs (www.forces.fr) - an interesting sounding initiative. Close to here were, until they were finally cleared and built over in the mid 1800s, the ruins of a 30,000 seat Roman Amphitheatre - one of the largest in Roman Gaul.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Café du Théâtre in the Place du Maréchal Leclerc, Adriano's bière pression bar of choice at the other end of town to the tourist priced Notre Dame la Grande area.
|
Al fresco dinner and revision back at the nearby IBIS hotel |
|
|
|
|
Left: Poached melt-in-your-mouth cholesterol - weekday lunchtime starter at the oddly named (with no explanation Restaurant Antipodes in the cellar of the Chanterie de St-Hilaire, next to the Basilique of the same name. |
|
|
|
|
|
Sunday lunch - freshly shucked oysters - 9 fines de claires no 3 - at La Taverne de Maître Kanter, Poitiers - followed by scampi and scallops. Maître Kanter is a seafood restaurant group, and we became a big fan of their fresh seafood here and in Le Puy en Velay, where they have a discount arrangement with the IBIS we were staying in upstairs.
|
|
|
|
|
|
Links to other pages in Paradoxplace
All original material on this site © Adrian Fletcher 2000-08 - The contents may not be hotlinked, or reproduced without permission
|
|
