Poitiers, France – The beautiful city of Poitou | Walking Tour | Poitou-Charente

🔵 Poitiers is a historic and cultural town in Poitou in west-central France. We explore the city’s charming streets, and admire its stunning architecture, including a Roman church of Notre-Dame la Grande adorned with intricate carvings lined in the heart of the city.

[FR] : Poitiers est une ville historique et culturelle du Poitou dans le Centre-Ouest de la France. Nous explorons la ville avec des rues charmantes, et admirez son architecture époustouflante, dont une église romane Notre-Dame la Grande ornée de sculptures complexes au coeur de la ville.

Population : 90.240 habitants (2021) ; Agglo : 134 k
Climat : Tempéré océanique
Précipitation : 687 mm/an ; Ensoleillement : 1866 heures
Température maximale du jour : 20°C

00:00 – Tour du Cordier
01:17 – Rue de la Chaine
05:20 – Place de la Liberté
08:30 – Place Charles VII
12:30 – Church of Notre-Dame la Grande
23:00 – Tour Montergeon et le palais des comtes
30:25 – Church of Saint Porchaire
33:00 – Place Maréchal Leclerc et l’Hôtel de Ville
40:00 – Préfecture de la Vienne
41:36 – Hôtel de Ville (2 – retour), rue Carnot
50:45 – Hôtel Jean Beaucé
58:55 – Hébergement de Jeanne d’Arc (1429)
1:01:05 – Grande Rue et Maison des Trois Clous
1:08:10 – Cathédrale Saint-pierre-et-Saint-Paul
1:18:30 – Musée Sainte-Croix et Baptistère
1:20:46 – Pont Joubert
1:24:21 – Parc de Blossac

Vidéos in Poitou-Charentes :
✔️ Niort, France : https://youtu.be/09mUEPb0ucs?si=nWSCewTE-O_-jAFd
✔️ La Rochelle : https://youtu.be/zLEtMpSI1sY?si=sY5Belk8QgUEJm4d

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My last travels in Poitiers : Never

Hello friends and welcome to my channel! The Tour du Cordier is an ancient medieval fortification in Poitiers and an important road crossroads nicknamed “Porte de Paris”. — Rue de la Chaine — The town of Poitiers is located in the heart of Poitou, built on a spatula plateau which dominates the two rivers crossing the town. Poitiers dominates the Boivre and Clain valleys. The city is separated from the rest of the landscape by a very thin strip of land. The capital of Poitou-Charentes offers a site steeped in history whose topography… Which is reminiscent of the strongholds of Alésia or Lutèce, will take you back to the heart of the Merovingian era. Built in 1529 by René Berthelot, former mayor of the city. The Hôtel Berthelot is one of the first Renaissance edifice in Poitiers. In Rue de la Chaine, the old and well-restored district of the city, this street has many well-restored half-timbered houses; it is pleasant to walk there. The Hôtel Fumé is a flamboyant Gothic style building built between 1480 and 1525. Its facade is impressive and rich in sculpted details. The hotel’s inner courtyard is quite interesting, so we can’t admire it (door closed). It is a historic square in Poitiers, there is a replica of the Statue of Liberty with its luminous globe. Formerly the Place du Pilori, the pillory was installed there, then the guillotine. During the Revolution a guillotine was installed and it was on this square that Jean-Baptiste Berton, after his arrest, was executed in 1822. General Berton died shouting “Long live Liberty”. In memory of these last words, the square was renamed Liberty Square in 1900. Then in 1903, a relic of the Statue of Liberty was erected enlightening the world, a reduced copy of Bartholdi’s work offered to the city from New York. On this small square redeveloped after a long archaeological excavation which revealed a herb market dating from the 13th century. — Crocodile sculpture in cast aluminum (2019) — It is a Roman collegiate church, characterized by the Poitevin Roman style dating from the 11th century. We admire this large facade decorated with remarkable sculpted decorations, it is the masterpiece of the church, representative of the Poitevin Roman style. The interior of the church is dedicated to color, the remains of Roman paintings at the level of the choir vault and the crypt. But today, we see most of the wall decoration on columns and the vaults were repainted in the 1850s. Unfortunately, the interior is dark because my GoPro is unable to see clearly. This half-timbered house was built in 1429 by Maurice Claveurier, seven times mayor of Poitiers. At the time of Lemonum (Roman city of Poitiers), the Notre-Dame district was dense. The north wall of the church shows the remains of an ancient elevation made of bricks and stones. Notre-Dame la Grande is mentioned in the 10th century, under the Latin name of Sancta Maria Major in reference to the Basilica of Saint Mary Major in Rome. The church was rebuilt in the 11th century, it was consecrated by the future Pope Urban II during his visit to Poitiers in 1086. The building ends shorter than today with a western porch bell tower. In the 12th century, the church underwent major work: the bell tower-porch was demolished, two bays were added to lengthen the nave, and the famous facade was built around 1130. Throughout the 15th and 16th centuries, the various private chapels belonging to bourgeois Poitevin families are located on the north side of the church. In 1562, the building suffered destruction from the Huguenots who pillaged the building, burned the relics and beheaded most of the statues on the facade. — Hôtel Chaboureau (15th century) — The ensemble with the four round towers is the former keep of the palace of the Counts of Poitiers and the Dukes of Aquitaine. William IX of Aquitaine rebuilt it after a fire in 1018. The count gave it the name of his mistress Mauberge, whom he removed to her husband’s castle. The Duke of Berry renovated the dungeon in the fashion of the time around 1400 during a truce in the Hundred Years’ War with the drilling of Gothic windows and the addition of sculptures. The Counts’ Palace is today the courthouse which occupies the site, including the old great hall. It was used for receptions, to administer justice and to bring together the vassals of the Middle Ages. The dimensions of the large room were then the largest in Europe (50 by 17 meters). The triple fireplace and the glass roofs were added around 1400 by the Duke of Berry. Joan of Arc was questioned about her motives in the palace hall and Jacques Coeur was condemned there before Charles VII. The macarons of Montmorillon where Marie le Medici brought them from Italy in the 16th century in order for these macarons to appear in France. Macarons are almond cookies with a tender and soft center. These were given their names to Montmorillon and it has nothing to do with modern macaroons. The Saint-Porchaire church is remarkable and although less known than some other churches in Poitiers, it does not lack charm: inside, the nave is in flamboyant Gothic style. A sign is marked under this porch and written: close this door tightly because of pigeons. Place Maréchal Leclerc is a main square in the city center, connecting the town hall to rue Victor Hugo. It is traditionally called Place d’Armes (1830). In 1058, mention was made for the first time of a place in this place, although it was an old forum. In the Middle Ages, market halls and shops occupied the entire square, which was the economic center of the city. Ancient remains have been found in the environment of this square, notably those of a triumphal arch decorated with maritime symbols, today exhibited at the Sainte-Croix museum. The city hall building was built in the style of the Second Empire (1875). It combines with an eclecticism characteristic of the Napoleon III era, the architectural style of several eras. — Former Municipal Theater — The 1940 style building was built in 1954. Today replaced by the Auditorium Theater (2008). The coat of arms of Castile sits on the facade of the legendary Poitiers cinema (1930). — Lycée Victor Hugo — The Jean Beaucé hotel is a Renaissance building built in 1554. It represents a surprising facade with a staircase tower, a corner dormer window, as well as a decorative tower topped with a dome added in the 19th century. The hotel building was expanded in the 19th century and in 1912. It was occupied by the German gendarmerie during the Second World War. Today, it is a private building with several apartments. The building was renovated in 2013. Joan of Arc was housed in March 1429 at the Hôtel de la Rose, at 53 rue de la Cathédrale. Today, the house no longer exists. The facade of the house was not the same at that time. It dates from the 17th or 18th centuries. On March 11, 1429, Joan of Arc was accompanied to Poitiers to be interrogated at the palace of the counts, before returning to Orléans in April. The Grande Rue (or Grand’Rue), starting from the apse of Notre-Dame la Grande to descend the slope of the spur to the Clain river, is one of the longest in Poitiers. It is lined with medieval half-timbered houses, narrow cut stone facades and beautiful private mansions. The Grande Rue is emblematic of the richness of the civil architecture of the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. The Grand’Rue was also home to numerous shops and crafts. Even today, we can let ourselves be guided by the smell of roasted coffee. There, this green boutique, we also come across an umbrella factory which has been present for over 130 years. The Maison des Trois Clous at 118 Grand’Rue, in reference to the three irons below the top window, would have welcomed Charles VII in 1424. This street, one of the oldest roads in Poitiers, was the main street in Roman times. . Very beautiful row of half-timbered facades. — Collège des Deux Frères (1431) — Construction of the cathedral began in 1160 by Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine on the ruins of a Roman basilica. It was completed in 1379. The building is of the Poitevin type (or Angevin Gothic style) with the church-hall structure where the nave and the side aisles are practically the same height. The cathedral was pillaged twice during the Hundred Years’ Wars (1346 by the English) and the Wars of Religion (1562 by the Huguenots). In 1681, during the Christmas holidays, a fire destroyed the organ and damaged the rose window which was restored in 1687. In 1912, the cathedral received the title of minor basilica from Pius X, because it was less famous than the ‘Notre-Dame la Grande church… This immense Gothic cathedral is nevertheless the largest religious building in the city and a landmark visible from afar in the urban landscape. This stained glass image, the crucifixion. The axial stained glass window of the bedside is one of the oldest in the Christian world (dates from the 12th century). There we are, the stained glass window of the crucifixion above. The Baptistery of Saint-Jean feels increasingly the oldest Christian monument in France, it was built between 630 and 700. Baptism was carried out by immersion in the pool, which dates from the 4th century, therefore from Roman times. The rest of the building from the time of the Frankish kings and the reign of Dagobert I. The magnificent wall paintings, mostly from the 11th century. The Merovingian sarcophagi collected in the baptistery were discovered in the region. The Sainte-Croix museum, the much largest museum in Poitiers. It presents rich archaeological collections from Prehistory to the Early Middle Ages and fine arts with works from the 14th to the 20th centuries. The bridge is mentioned for the first time in 1083. It was the main entrance on the east side, arriving from the Bourges road. 1451, the second reconstruction with a defensive system linked to the city walls. It has been restored several times throughout history. The towers on the bridge were demolished in the 19th century, hindering traffic. The bridge was damaged by the heavy floods of the Clain: 1561, 1904 and December 1982. We will spend this scene in the Blossac park before finishing this video. We will see the limited park on the ramparts located at the southern point of the city plateau. the southern ramparts of the city date from the 12th and 14th centuries with a few watchtowers. Here is the beautiful watchtower “Tour à l’oiseau” with the beautiful view of the Poitevine countryside.