HOTEL BERTHELOT

This Renaissance-style mansion built around 1529 by René Berthelot, one of the mayors of Poitiers, now houses the Centre d'études supérieures de civilisation médiévale, a research laboratory of the university. A few meters from the Place de la Liberté, it is one of the city's many hidden treasures, which can be reached by passing the porch overlooking the steep Rue de la Chaîne. Among the Italian-style sculpted decoration, you can see medallion portraits of the owner and his wife, as well as their coat of arms.