Musée Sainte-Croix

The Musée Sainte-Croix is the main museum of Poitiers, and it stands on the site of the old abbey of Sainte-Croix, one of the oldest religious foundations in France. The abbey was founded in the sixth century by Saint Radegund, a Thuringian princess who had married a Frankish king and then left court life to become a nun, and it became one of the great women's monasteries of early medieval Gaul. Little of the original abbey remains above ground, but the site's history gives the museum a deep sense of place. The present building, a modern work in concrete and glass designed by the architect Jean Monge and opened in the 1970s, was built to display the collections of archaeology and art, and it contrasts boldly with the older buildings around it.

The museum's archaeological collection traces the story of the Poitou region from the first inhabitants to the early Middle Ages. Among its most precious pieces are Paleolithic engraved stones from the Grotte de la Marche, a cave in the Vienne valley, which bear tiny carved portraits of men and women, animals and symbols made by hunter-gatherers more than ten thousand years ago. These small engravings show an astonishing skill and give a rare insight into the faces and lives of prehistoric people. Later galleries show the Neolithic and Bronze Age, with tools, pottery and ornaments, and then the Gallo-Roman era, when Poitiers was the city of the Pictones, called Lemonum, and had an amphitheatre, baths and monuments. Sculptures, inscriptions, mosaics and everyday objects from this period show how local people lived under Roman rule.

The collection continues with the late Roman and early medieval periods, including carved stone sarcophagi from the cemeteries around Poitiers, which show the changing styles of burial and early Christian art. The museum also holds fine arts, with paintings and sculptures from the Middle Ages to the twentieth century, and it puts on temporary exhibitions of modern and contemporary art.

Poitiers has some of the oldest Christian monuments in France, and a visit to the museum complements them. The Baptistère Saint-Jean, which dates from the fourth century, is among the oldest Christian buildings in the country, and the Église Saint-Jean in the sibling list refers to this area. The Basilica of Saint-Pierre, the cathedral, and Notre-Dame-la-Grande, with its richly carved Romanesque front, are all within a short distance. The Rue de la Tranchée, a modern street in the centre, links these sights.

Allow one to two hours. It suits history lovers, archaeology fans and curious families. Check the opening days and times, which can change with the season, before you go.