The Tour Maubergeon of the palace of Poitiers !!!

I continue with my latest live visit to wonderful old Poitiers. I have taken this out of a previous post because feel deserves a post of its own. We were all over walking, and two spots connected I like to tell you about the Tour Maubergeon of the palace of Poitiers !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I A palace (see post) was built for counts dukes of Aquitaine in the 9C straddling the Roman wall dating from the end of the 3C, on the highest point of the city. King Louis stayed there several times, and returned there once he became emperor, in 839 and 840. It was then the seat of the Counts of Poitiers. This first state of the palace completely disappeared in a fire in 1018. It was rebuilt by the counts-dukes of Aquitaine, then at the height of their power. Count William IX added a keep to it around 1104, on the town side, called the Maubergeon tower in homage to his mistress. Poitiers tour maubergeon tower front oct21 Founded in the 11-12C, the Tour Maubergeon tower is characterized by a square structure with circular towers at four angles. The set with the four round towers is the old keep of the Palace of the Counts of Poitou. William IX of Aquitaine, poet known as the Troubadour, rebuilt it after a fire in 1018. The count gave it the name of his mistress Mauberge, whom he abducted from her husband’s castle. The Duke of Berry fitted out the keep in the fashion of the time around 1400 during a truce during the Hundred Years War with the piercing of Gothic windows and the addition of sculptures representing the Duke’s vassals. He did not complete the site, hence the level appearance of the palace. Poitiers tour maubergeon front closeup oct21 The Maubergeon tower, behind the palais des ducs of Aquitaine. Topped with sixteen sculptures, this building, rebuilt in the 14C, is a former keep, which belonged to the castle of the Counts of Poitou and Dukes of Aquitaine. Today, it hosts a room in the courthouse. The place has been associated with justice for centuries: the name of Maubergeon indeed comes from “mall berg”, the old Merovingian court. The square at the foot of the tower houses a statue of Joan of Arc, which recalls that in 1429, King Charles VII sent Joan to Poitiers to be heard by theologians. Poitiers tour maubergeon side oct21 Recent research in the basement of the Maubergeon tower indicates that it could be a space dedicated to storage and cooking in medieval times, perhaps even craft activities. They have found an important lot of ceramics and animal remains in the sediments as well as a niche in which a fireplace was arranged. In the cistern sector, access ,a door lintel, was found which was filled and which perhaps allowed to access the cistern tank in the main building ,and could identified the vestiges of a first tower undoubtedly constructed between the 11C and 13C.The cleaning and asbestos removal work at the Palais de Poitiers started the end of August 2024 and will last until April 2025. The Maubergeon tower will close to the public for several years.Stay tune, The Poitiers tourist office on the palacehttps://visitpoitiers.fr/en/activity/dukes-palace/ The Nouvelle Aquitaine region tourist office on Poitiershttps://www.nouvelle-aquitaine-tourisme.com/en/poitiers-futuroscope/poitiers-a-journey-through-time There you go folks a dandy city of Poitiers and it’s emblematic monument not to be missed. The palace today is the justice government building, with an architecture to boot ! Again, hope you enjoy the historical architecture introduction to the Tour Maubergeon of the palace of Poitiers !!! as I. And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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