Actuellement fermée pour travaux de restauration
Sculpted in the first half of the 12th century, the famous facade of the church of Notre-Dame-la-Grande in Poitiers has an ornamental and figurative vocabulary of great quality.
At the entrance gate, a frieze relates episodes from the holy story - from Adam and Eve to the birth of Jesus.
Above, the college of apostles, bishops and pope are distributed on either side of the single window. Finally, a Christ in glory dominates the whole composition, in the centre of a gable embellished by a diamond or cone stone carving.
During a major campaign of works, between 1992 and 2004, this façade was cleaned and restored, revealing traces of old polychromy.
The interior is also devoted to colour, but it is essentially a wall decoration of the 1850s, except for the vaulting of the choir, which is authentically Romanesque.
The stalls, partly from the Renaissance period, share the nave with a small choir organ from the 19th century, while the large organ was built by Yves Sévère (1996).
The entire north side of the church of Notre-Dame-la-Grande, as well as its chevet, has a row of 15th and 16th century chapels, built in the architectural style of each of their eras: you can admire beautiful Gothic vaults from the late Middle Ages or others from the Renaissance period, decorated with coffers.
In one of the chapels to the right of the choir, there is a remarkable 16th century carved group in polychrome stone representing the Entombment.
