Arrondissement de Poitiers

Another early wake up at 5am for me and finally back to sleep. We both finally managed to get up at 8.45 and quickly got ready to drive to Poitiers giving breakfast a miss. It took about 50 minutes to get to Poitiers and to after a couple of attempts finally find a parking area which as normal was stupidly cheap and walk towards where we thought the market was. The walk was generally all up hill and was also quite steep, the only positive was that it would be downhill on the way back. On arriving in Market Square just off Pl. Charles de Gaulle we found quite a few stalls, mainly selling local produce, but also a few hot food stalls with varying non French food types and also some typical flea market stalls. There was also a covered indoor market which was busy, with queues identifying the more popular sellers, as we’d seen in most markets we’ve visited. On one of the fish stalls we spotted some lovely tuna steaks which Tre and I have never cooked ourselves before. Keeping to our ‘let’s just try’ mindset since being here we grabbed a couple. Tomorrow will reveal our skill in cooking these.
After grabbing a couple of other bits at the market including the strongest smelling leaks we’ve ever had, we dropped into a cafe for hot drinks and breakfast/lunch. It was very cold when outside, so the cafe was a welcome relief.
After warming ourselves and filling our rumbling tums, we made tracks and headed for the cathedral. We walked generally south east from the cafe and down Rue de la Cathédrale - ahead at the bottom we could see the cathedral.
On arrival we thought Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Poitiers was closed but we found a small subsequently found to be a side door allowing us entry. The cathedral was silent, more silent than any other church we have been in here. The feeling in the cathedral was totally tranquil. The building as normal was absolutely stunning and we both took our time to wander the different aspects and area within. None of these churches or cathedrals can be described properly - you need to stand in them to admire them fully.
Its construction began in 1162 by Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine on the ruins of a Roman basilica, and work was well advanced by the end of the 12th century. It is the largest medieval monument in the city of Poitiers.
It is the best known example of a hall church of the Angevin Gothic style. It consists of a nave flanked on either side by two aisles. The nave and aisles are almost equal in height and width, all three of which decrease towards the west, thus enhancing the perspective. Its length is 308 feet (94 m), and the keystone of the central vaulted roof is 89 feet (27 m) above the pavement. The exterior generally has a heavy appearance. The facade, which is broad relative to its height, has unfinished side-towers 105 feet (32 m) and 110 feet (34 m) tall, begun in the 13th century.
Most of the windows of the choir and the transepts preserve their stained glass of the 12th and 13th centuries; the end window, the Crucifixion Window contains the figures of Henry II and Eleanor. It was completed in about 1165, making it one of the earliest stained-glass cathedral windows in France. [1] The choir stalls, carved between 1235 and 1257, are also among the oldest in France.
From the cathedral we walked back towards the market square chancing upon a vinyl store on route, which gave me half an hour of searching in the warm. On route we also saw some lovely brocante shops with numerous little gems that Tre and I are stopping ourselves from buying I til we have a house here.
Back at the market square we entered the church which is under renovation - Église Notre-Dame-la-Grande.
The church was absolutely freezing inside with ‘huff’ appearing from our every breath. The columns inside are painted like a couple of others Tre and I have seen - these are far from common. The stained glass windows in here seemed stunning against the mainly very dark and dower building.
Notre-Dame la Grande is a Roman Catholic church. Having a double status, collegial and parochial, it forms part of the Catholic diocese of Poitiers. The west front adorned with statuary is recognised as a masterpiece of Romanesque religious art. The walls inside the church are painted.
The church is mentioned in the 10th century, under the name of "Sancta Maria Maior", referring to the Romanesque church of the same name. Its position next to the Palace of the Counts of Poitou-Dukes of Aquitaine (current law courts of Poitiers), is certainly significant as from the political point of view, the bishops of Poitiers were barons of Poitou.
The whole of the building was rebuilt in the second half of the 11th century, in the period of High Romanesque, and inaugurated in 1086 by the future Pope Urban II.
The plan of the church is composed of a central nave with aisles according to a frequent plan in Romanesque architecture of Poitou. The interior has the effect of a "church agora" on just one plane. The barrel vault has a slightly flattened silhouette, whereas the aisles are covered with a groined vault. Outside, the aisles were covered with a terrace punt, the roof being reserved for the nave: thus there was the effect of a basilica on two levels. This silhouette disappeared with the Gothic remodelling. A deambulatory with radiating chapels developed around the church which preserved a part of its murals. A crypt of the 11th century, dug a posteriori under the choir, also preserves frescos of the time. The plan does not have transepts, for good reasons: buildings were in the north, and the principal street passes to the south. The Romanesque gate is preserved in part to the south. Cut down by this stage, one found there before the Revolution, an equestrian statue representing Constantine. This statue was the counterpart of another, older statue destroyed by the Huguenots in 1562. It is not known if the identity of the first rider had been the same. Behind this statue, on the ground, a small vault dedicated to Saint Katherine was referred to during the Middle Ages. The bell-tower dates from the 11th century. In the beginning it was much more obvious: the first level is concealed today by the roofs. Located at the site of the crossing, it presents a square base, then over it a circular level of a roof decorated with tiles. This type of roof, frequent in the south-west, was often copied by the architects of the 19th century, in particular Paul Abadie in Angoulême, Périgueux and Bordeaux.
During the second quarter of the 12th century, the old bell-tower-porch which was on the frontage was removed and the church was increased by two spans towards the west. In the south, the turret of a staircase marks the site of this enlargement. It is at that time that the celebrated frontage-screen was built.
In the north, there was a cloister in the 12th century. It was removed in 1857 for the construction of the metal markets. There remains the door (walled up). Three arches supported by columns duplicated with capitals with foliage were re-installed in the court of the university opposite, as was a pillar on the corner.
Private vaults were added to the Romanesque structure during the 15th and 16th centuries. Of Flamboyant Gothic style, they belonged to the middle-class families of the city, who had been merchants since the end of the Middle Ages. The largest was built in the south by Yvon the Insane, Grand Seneschal of Poitou in the 15th century. His tomb was placed there before the Revolution.
On leaving the church we returned down hill to Rox and got the heated fired up to full.
We then drove to Lizant I. Search of a place Tre had seen on Facebook - Lulu’s Brocante.
We finally found it and entered. This was French owned and was a very large house clearance site. Lots of units and outside areas absolutely crammed with everything!!
We spent about 45 minutes wandering the areas before we climbed back into Rox again having stopped ourselves buying anything.
Back to Sauze we popped into SuperU to grab a couple of bits, weirdly a couple more bottles of our favourite Les de Ormes Cambras fell into our basket.
Home we had Turkey loaf and salad and then flopped onto the sofa, having had a fairly busy little day compared to some recently. A little bit of England rugby and some Saturday night TV rounded off our day.
Poitiers, we will be back - your cafe strewn square will be a favourite of our in the summer I am sure.Read more