When I recently visited St. Hilaire,  it was mid-afternoon and an organist was practicing, not a rare occurrence in Poitiers' churches. That time it was the Hallelujah chorus from Handel's Messiah and stirred memories of my American childhood Christmases.

Although a veritable treasure trove of religious Romanesque architecture, Poitiers also abounds in attractive ancient civil urban homes. These range from many half-timbered 15th - 16th century townhouses, where there are still shops on the ground floor, through handsome quarry-stone Renaissance buildings to at least a few – and somewhat pretentious – 16th century mini manors.  One example on the Yellow Route is the Hôtel Fumé, a late-Gothic/early-Renaissance townhouse built by a mayor, and now appropriately used by students of art history. It stands with similar structures on rue de la Chaîne, so called because it could be chained off in time of civil strife.

This itinerary also takes you to the half-Romanesque half-Gothic Montierneuf ("New Monastery") church, originally consecrated by a Pope in 1096. And to a replica, specially cast by Bartholdi himself, of the Statue of Liberty. It is the centerpiece of  a square where, in the Middle Ages, people were pilloried or hanged and, during La Révolution, guillotined. Fittingly, it is now the Place de la Liberté, and the statue was funded by a Free Masons’ subscription in 1902, i.e. just before the separation of Church and State was made official in France.

Poitiers and its 15th century university – renowned as second only to Paris’ -  have long attracted free thinkers, among whom were Rabelais, Descartes and the Renaissance poets DuBellay and Ronsard.

Back at the town center, and beginning the Blue Route, don't miss the Palais de Justice (Law Courts), dating from the 1100s, where trials alternated with major feasts.  Its Main Hall is almost the size of a football field, and must have been coolish in winter.  Not to worry: the judges and main banqueters were seated on a raised platform heated by three fireplaces each large enough to cook an ox.

Around 1400, Duke Jean de Berry (of Très-Riches Heures fame) refurbished the Palace in ornate Gothic style.  King Charles VII held court here. But, contrary to some tour guides’ affirmations – aren't you glad you're consulting FRANCE On Your Own? -  this is not the spot where his main helper (and goad), Joan of Arc, convinced skeptics that she was on a divine mission.

Captive, Queen, Nun, Saint

If "older is better", then Poitiers is close to "best".  The Blue Route's St. Jean Baptistry dates from the 4th century A.D. and is thus the most ancient Christian structure extant in France.

Nearby is the 12th – 14th century St. Pierre Cathedral. True, it boasts the only pre-Revolutionary church organ left in France, but, in my book, that's just about it.   For me, it's an oversized and rather characterless mish-mash of Romanesque and Gothic with Baroque trimmings.

At the end of the Blue Route, on the other hand, we come to the admirable church dedicated to Sainte Radegonde. Her story makes King Lear sound like a fairy tale.  Captured ca. 531 A.D. with her brother in their native Thuringia by King Clotaire, warrior son of King Clovis, she was brought to the Frankish Kingdom and given a proper education. Against her will, Clotaire married her ca. 540. As queen, she was admired for her kindness and humility. 

Then Clotaire murdered her brother and she fled the royal palace to become ~ a nun. She found refuge at Poitiers and founded there the Holy Cross Abbey to house a relic of Christ's passion sent to her by the Emperor of Byzantium. This church was originally built about 552 (reworked 11th-15th centuries) as the final resting place of nuns from the Holy Cross Abbey, and her own tomb is found in the church's touchingly modest 10th century crypt.

Such a personage could not but give rise to legends.  As you come out of the church you notice just opposite a nightclub called La Grand’Goule. The "Great Craw" in question (but the word may also relate to our English "ghoul") was a terrifying dragon.  Sallying forth from his underground haunts, he devoured all and sundry Poitiers people who crossed his path.  At the pleading of other nuns, Radegonde took on the Grand’Goule who, no match for a splinter of the Holy Cross, was promptly dispatched.

Recalling this feat, Medieval religious processions in Poitiers bore effigies of the Grand’Goule and, munching casse-museaux (jaw-breaker) biscuits, the processants implored divine protection.  Today, in addition to the nightclub there are still Gouilibeur biscuits – anything but jaw-breaking.

Another Radegonde legend: through humility, the queen-become-nun and soon-to-be-saint refused to be Mother Superior of her abbey.  Indeed, towards the end of her life,  she retreated to hermitage in a cell just around the corner from Sainte Radegonde church (go through the archway at N° 13 rue des Carolus) and marked by a modern oratory.  It was here that, a year before she died in 587, Jesus appeared to her and left the mark of his foot on a stone – "the pace of God".

P.S. FRANCE On Your Own regulars may have noticed that I'm addicted to bizarre toponymy.  Well, Poitiers didn't fail me, thanks to la rue de la Jambe à l’Ane – "Donkey Leg Street".  Nope, not a shop sign! Rue de la Jambe à l’Ane is steep indeed, and the wine shop at its base sold booze by the "leg" - a measure akin to the "boot" (Stiefel = 2 liters) of beer you can still buy in Austria, or the " yard" by which the 13 American Original Colonies bought (gulp !) their ale – just to give the donkey drivers headed uphill a… kick-start.

A Side (Day) Trip

It would probably be near-criminal to visit Poitiers and NOT venture into the surrounding, history-rich countryside.  Twenty-three kilometers from Poitiers is Chauvigny, a Medieval hill town boasting three castles, tame eagles and other birds of prey which, when not putting on their show, wheel and bank indolently overhead, and – above all – the St. Pierre church.  In its 11th century apse are brightly-painted column capitals depicting easily recognizable Biblical scenes, and such apocryphal figures as the tempting pose of a Babylonian strumpet. Surprisingly for that time of anonymous artists, one of the capitals is actually signed: Gofridus me fecit – "Gottfried made me".

A further 17 kilometers and you're at St. Savin where a first abbey was founded with Charlemagne's help in the 9th century, only to be destroyed by Viking incursions (some vestiges still visible) and then rebuilt in the 11th century, when the barrel vaulting of the abbey church nave was decorated with no less than 460 square meters of frescoes, requiring about 200 person/years of work. Much has survived,  and the guided explanation of this artwork (every day between June and October, otherwise weekends and holidays) is well worth 6 Euros per person.

The first cave artwork was only discovered in the mid-nineteenth century, which is hard to believe since it existed from 40,000 to 10,000 BC during the Upper Paleolithic period, also called the Reindeer Age.  The best of those paintings were done by those who became known as the Magdalenians ~ people who flourished in the Pyrénées region of Europe from 18,000 BC to 10,0000 BC.  The Magdalenian creations have been around for two-thirds of the time humans have created art! 

In 1902 cave art was finally accepted by both anthropologists and art historians as significant and authentic.  As the 20th century drew to a close, Europe boasted 277 authenticated sites, 142 of which are in France, with others in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Germany and the Balkans.  The art work itself is extremely fragile, and once a cave is exposed,  not only to the outside air after being 'opened', but to humankind, the art begins to deteriorate very quickly.  One example of this is the cave at Bédeilhac in the Pyrénées whose art vanished from deterioration within six months of opening to the public during World War I.

Air-conditioning installed in most caves today permits people to visit with less risk to the art work, and even with that advantage, some are open for only brief amounts of time to small groups of people, similar to the restrictions placed on visitors to Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris.  Ancient art work can disappear so quickly, so every effort must be made to protect it. 

The earliest drawings were done by hands forming designs in soft clay, and this progressed to engraving with sharp tools.  Some of these drawings were on the floors of caves and have long since disappeared under the feet of visitors.  Then pigments were discovered, and painting was done on cave walls, often incorporating the shape of the rock face itself to depict animals, the most common subjects of this art form.  Red, iron oxide, black, brown and yellow were the available pigments, while white was used occasionally.  These warm hues,  aglow in the caves by just enough light for visitors to see the amazing work of our ancestors, are etched forever in one's memory after a visit to one of France's prehistoric wonders.

It is important to know that caves were not the homes of early man, but were most likely places of spirituality.  Although the peoples of the stone age created art work outside the caves, those did not last very long.  They soon discovered that the caves would shelter their creations ~ little did they know for how long!

Granted, there are currently 277 known prehistoric sites in Europe, but we must remember that a new one could be found at any time ~  by sheer accident such as the amazing discovery of the Chauvet Cave in 1994 and the Cave of Cussac in September of 2000.  Each new find is treated with more respect and care than those that came before, protecting our human heritage for the future.

LE THOT [Thonac, Périgord Noir] -  This is a park and museum which serves as the introduction to Lascaux II.  In fact, one ticket is admission to both sites.  The park at Le Thot presents the fauna which existed in Cro-Magnon times and which was the inspiration for the art.  Such animals as European bisons, Przewalski horses, aurochs, as well as life-size replicas of the extinct animals such as the mammoth, wooly rhino and others can be seen here.  Reconstruction of the huts Cro-Magnon families lived in has been accomplished using excavated remains.  The museum offers audiovisual shows in film and slides and presents facsimiles of cave art. 

LASCAUX [Montignac, Périgord Noir] - It was July 18, 1983, that Lascaux II opened to the public ~ a phenomenal re-creation of the Lascaux caves whose precious art could no longer sustain the effects of thousands of visitors each week.  Lascaux II, a facsimile reproduced as authentically as possible, is a breathtaking experience.  Only 200 meters away from the 'real thing', it displays most of the paintings found in the original in two galleries:  Salles de Taureaux and Diverticule Axial.  A museum at the entrance  provides visitors with the cave's history.  When you think of what had to be accomplished to create a nearly exact duplicate of the original cave, you will soon be awed not just by the artistry but by the science.  Every curve, bump and bulge of the Lascaux cave's walls were faithfully copied ~ the polychrome paintings reproduced with the same pigments used 17,000 years before.

But, what about Lascaux itself?  La Grotte de Lascaux was discovered by four teenagers Marcel Ravidat, Jacques Marsal, Georges Agnel and Simon Coencas on Thursday, September 12, 1940 ~ an outing on the hill overlooking the Périgourdian village of Montignac turned out to be one of the most important archeological discoveries of the 20th century.  As they progressed through the small opening and came into a large cave, they saw red cows, yellow horses, bulls and black stags!  They returned the second day for further exploration, but word had spread rapidly and important French archeologists of the day, Abbot Henri Breuil, Dr. Cheynier, Abbot J. and Abbot A. Bouysonnie and, later, D. Peyrony and Count Bégouën, were soon drawn to Lascaux. 

After much work was performed to gain access to the many caves and shafts at Lascaux, and after too many humans had explored its riches, deterioration was becoming evident in 1955, primarily caused by carbon dioxide exhaled by the people coming into the cave.  Soon, algae and moss began to appear on the walls, and those in charge knew that the cave would no longer endure human visits.  The Ministry of Cultural Affairs, under the auspices of André Malraux, closed the cave on April 20,  1963. 
 

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