POITIERS WILL SEDUCE YOU
In Poitiers, one inhabitant out of two is less than 30 years old.
Eleanor of Aquitaine, Joan of Arc, Clovis, Charles Martel wrote famous pages of French history. The authors Pierre de Ronsard, François Rabelais and René Descartes studied here. The chef Joël Robuchon, the skater Brian Joubert and the philosopher Michel Foucault were born here.
A medieval past
History officer
An ancient fortified city, Poitiers sits on a rocky spur. Several towers today bear witness to this rich medieval past. Surrounded by two rivers and as many green valleys, the historic centre is locally nicknamed "the plateau". At the top of this vast promontory stand two of its most beautiful monuments, the palace of the Counts of Poitou and the church of Notre-Dame-la-Grande. Along narrow streets, Renaissance mansions mingle with half-timbered houses from the Middle Ages. The prefecture and the town hall bear witness to a Haussmannian impetus during the 19th century.
Borrowing of modernity
As for the two glass parallelepipeds that you can see, shining with a thousand yellows, on the western slope, they are home all year round to the shows of the Théâtre Auditorium de Poitiers (TAP), because the one that is nicknamed "the city of a hundred steeples" is erudite, cultural, festive, creative, sporting... "Old stones and new blood", sums up the daily newspaper Les Echos perfectly. In Poitiers, one out of every two inhabitants is under 30 years old! Under the impulse of this youth, the city vibrates and transcends itself. The visitor leaves "increased". It's a reality!
What to see on the way
- Exhibitions and the planetarium of the Espace Mendès France to perfect the scientific culture of the whole family.
- The mansions of Briey and Rochefort in the Grand'Rue, one of the longest and oldest in Poitiers.
- The 217 steps of the Dunes Stairs to get the grail, in this case an unbeatable viewpoint.
- The rue de la Chaîne, as steep as it is truculent, with its half-timbered facades and inner courtyards.
- The Place de la Liberté where criminals were once pilloried or guillotined.
- La Grande Poste, in art nouveau style, built according to the plans of the architect Hilaire Guinet.
- The gardens of Puygarreau with a playground and contemporary artwork.
OFFICE
INFORMATION
TOURISM
Poitiers
45 place Charles de Gaulle - 86000 Poitiers
Phone: +33 (0)5 49 41 21 24
Monday to Saturday from 9:30am to 6pm
