NOTRE-DAME-LA-GRANDE CHURCH
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Poitiers' Romanesque jewel, famous for its facade sculpted in the early century.
Whether it's your first encounter with it, or you've been strolling along its forecourt for years, your eyes can't take your eyes off it. It's the jewel in the crown of the town's heritage. Notre-Dame-la-Grande, this magnificent Romanesque church, masterfully restored during major works carried out between 1992 and 2004, is above all famous for its facade, sculpted in the early 12th century.
Surprised by its beauty and the quality and richness of its ornamentation, you'll discover a frieze depicting episodes from the holy story, from the temptation of Adam and Eve to the Nativity. Above, apostles, bishops and the pope are arranged on either side of the single central bay. At the top, in a mandorla, Christ in glory, surrounded by the symbols of the four evangelists, dominates the whole.
Composed of a central nave flanked by two very high side aisles, a common feature of Poitevin Romanesque architecture, the church is extended by a transeptless bay bearing the bell tower, and by a choir with an ambulatory and radiating chapels built over a crypt.
The interior features wall decorations dating from the 1850s. Only the paintings on the choir vault and those in the 11th-century crypt are Romanesque. The 11 chapels on the north side and in the chevet of the church date from the 15th and 16th centuries. Flamboyant Gothic or Renaissance in style, they feature pointed vaults in the former and coffered ceilings in the latter.
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vitraux magnifiques qui donnent un bon éclairage à l'intérieur de lédifice
Le programme architectural rappelle, sur trois registres, les grandes lignes de la foi chrétienne de l’arrivée de Jésus Christ dans l’histoire de l’humanité en passant par la fondation de l’Église avec les pasteurs qui en sont les guides. De bas en haut, on admire d’abord la frise et ses scènes bibliques qui commencent avec la Chute d’Adam et Ève et se termine avec la Nativité suivie du bain de Jésus, allusion au baptême. Le deuxième registre illustre la bonne nouvelle de Jésus que propagent les apôtres, Saint-Pierre et le Pape. Finalement, le Seigneur triomphe entre les symboles évangéliques dans le pignon.
La façade est percée de trois arcades aux voussures délicatement sculptées, les deux latérales étant aveugles.
Ne vous laissez pas leurrer, les peintures à l’intérieur ne datent que du 19es … Si vous le pouvez, laissez-vous conter le miracle des clés et le rôle de Notre-Dame dans la protection de la cité contre les Anglais qui l’assiègent.