User:Emilieschmitt

Poitiers is located in Western France, near the cities of Tours and Nantes. It has a population of 87,427. The city is 16.26 square miles. One thing to see in Poitiers, France is the university. One of the oldest in Europe, it was founded in 1431 and currently has over 26,000 students enrolled, as of 2016. The motto of the school is “Des savoirs & des talents.” It is affiliated with the Coimbra Group, which also has one of the oldest universities, established in 1290. People like Francis Bacon, Jean-Louis Guez de Balzac, Scévole de Sainte-Marthe, and Joachim Du Ballay attended this university. Until 1857, Poitiers held the ruins of a huge Roman amphitheater, which vaster than the one at Nîmes. Also, remains of Roman baths, built in the 1st century and demolished in the 3rd century, which uncovered in 1877. Later in the war In 1418, under duress, the royal parliament moved from Paris to Poitiers, where it remained in exile until the Plantagenets finally withdrew from the capital in 1436. During this change, in 1429, Poitiers was the site of Joan of Arc's proper examination. In the 16th century, Poitiers impressed visitors because of its large size, and important features, including royal courts, university, prolific printing shops, wealthy religious institutions, cathedral, numerous parishes, markets, impressive domestic architecture, extensive fortifications, and castle. In the 17th century, few construction projects were launched, like the building of bridges. But the city remained mostly the same and laid dormant during the Renaissance. In the 18th century, Poitiers served as the seat for the regional administration of royal justice. During the 19th century, many army bases were built in Poitiers because of its central and strategic location. Poitiers became a garrison town, despite its distance from France's borders. During World War 2, Poitiers was bombed, mostly the railway station which was heavily hit on June 13 1944. In the 50’s and 60’s the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force had an array of military installations in France, including a major Army logistics and communications hub in Poitiers, part of what was called the Communication Zone (ComZ).