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Origin and history

The enclosure of Poitiers includes successive fortifications that have protected the city since ancient times. In the Gallo-Roman period, the city of Limonum (Poitiers), naturally defended by the rivers of the Clain and the Boivre as well as by cliffs, built thick walls in the third century to cope with the barbaric invasions and instability of the Roman Empire. These ramparts, smaller than the ancient urban expanse, are only the historical heart between the Palace of Counts and St Peter's Cathedral, excluding Roman arenas. These works will remain in place until the Renaissance, marking the defensive landscape of the city.

In the Middle Ages, the Ramnulfides Counts, followed by Alienor of Aquitaine, reinforced the defences of the promontory. In the 14th century, the Duke Jean de Berry transformed a tower into an adorned triangular castle, located at the confluence of the Boivre and the Clain. These medieval enclosures, represented in engravings illustrating the Protestant siege of 1569 led by Coligny, will gradually be dismantled from the 19th century. Urban developments related to railway and car traffic (extension of roads, destruction of doors like that of Pont Joubert) erase a large part of the ramparts, leaving only isolated remains such as the Tower of Cordier or elements classified as historical monuments in 1921 and 1926.

In the 18th century, the intendant Paul Esprit Marie de La Bourdonnaye, Count of Blossac, integrated simili-remparts in the eponymous park, for decorative and landscape purposes. These developments, like the terraces on the cliff, artificially evoke the old fortifications. Today, the protected remains include the door of the Tranché and its pavilions, sections of walls along the Blossac promenade, as well as towers and moats near the confluence of the two rivers. These remains bear witness to the defensive stratifications of Poitiers, between ancient heritage, medieval adaptations and modern destructions.

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