Notre-Dame la Grande (Poitiers) (Poitiers (centre-ville))

 church, interesting place, catholicism, listed building / architectural heritage, historical building

Notre-Dame la Grande is a church in Poitiers, France. Having a double status, collegial and parochial, it forms part of the Catholic diocese of Poitiers.The church is mentioned in the tenth century, under the name of "Sancta Maria Maior.
The whole of the building was rebuilt in the second half of the eleventh century, in the period of High Romanesque, and inaugurated in 1086 by the future Pope Urban II.
Private vaults were added to the Romanesque frame during the XV and XVI centuries. Of flamboyant Gothic style, they belonged to the middle-class families of the city, who had been merchants since the end of the Middle Ages. The largest was built in the south by Yvon the Insane, Grand Senechal of Poitou in the XV century. His tomb was placed there before the Revolution.