original nave (alternating columns and piers) was reduced by the erection of additional
supports to carry the curious stone cupolas. Remarkable are the vaulting of the tower, the
carved corbels and metopes, the 11th-century capitals, and the frescoes of the bishops of
Poitiers (12th c.). The crypt (ambulatory, three radiating chapels) of the church of Sainte-
Radegonde (1099) houses the venerated tomb of the queen of the Franks. A 13th-century
aisleless nave with Angevin vaults links the Romanesque chevet (carved capitals) with
the majestic tower porch. The present portal is Flamboyant Gothic; within the porch are
two reliefs (Christ blessing and a seated St. Radegund or the Virgin). Stained-glass
windows include episodes from the life of St. Radegund.
Despite its name, the former collegiate church of Notre-Dame-la-Grande (late 1 1th-
early 12th c.) is relatively small, yet its lavishly sculptured screen façade and
harmoniously proportioned crossing tower are among the most famous in western France.
In typically “Poitevin” format, the pronounced horizontals of the three-storied façade are
framed by vertical clusters of columns supporting open-arcaded corner turrets with
conical roofs. A frieze of Old and New
Poitiers, Notre-Dame-la-Grande,
façade. Photograph courtesy of
Whitney S.Stoddard.
Testament scenes and personages, evoking the Fall and the Incarnation, fills the area
above the three elaborately decorated arches of the lower story. Between the corbel
tables, a large central window separates two rows of superimposed arcades containing
Apostles and bishops. Within the almond-shaped mandorla of the gable are the
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