Poitiers

Poitiers sits on a promontory between two rivers and kept an unusual density of early churches. Notre-Dame-la-Grande has the west front people come for: a twelfth-century facade covered edge to edge in carved figures, arcades and friezes running the Old Testament into the Nativity, with conical scaled turrets at the corners; it is periodically lit at night by projected colour reconstructing how it may have been painted. The Baptistere Saint-Jean, parts of it fourth century, is among the oldest Christian buildings in France. Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand has an unusual multi-aisle plan. The cathedral holds carved thirteenth-century choir stalls.

What you actually see

• Notre-Dame-la-Grande - a twelfth-century facade carved over its whole surface.
• The Baptistere Saint-Jean - one of the oldest Christian buildings in France.
• Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand - a wide Romanesque church with an unusual aisle plan.
• The colour projections - summer light shows reconstructing painted facades.

When to go

April to October; the summer Polychromies projections run on evenings from June to September. Churches are free and open by day. The baptistery keeps shorter hours.

Honest expectations

The facade carving is weathered and best read with binoculars or the projection. The baptistery is small and easy to miss. The city outside the old core is ordinary.

Nearby

Futuroscope lies north; Saint-Savin abbey is east.