What is Poitiers?
{{Infobox French commune |name = Poitiers |commune status = [[Prefectures in France|Prefecture]] and [[Communes of France|commune]] |image coat of arms = Blason ville fr Poitiers (Vienne).svg |image = Poitiers hill.jpg |caption = The old town center. |arrondissement = Poitiers |canton = Capital of 5 cantons |INSEE = 86194 |postal code = 86000 |mayor = Alain Claeys<ref>{{cite web |publisher=Ville de Poitiers |title=Le Maire et ses adjoints |url=https://www.poitiers.fr/c__71_271__Le_Maire_et_ses_adjoints.html |language=French |accessdate=18 April 2017}}</ref> |term = 2014&ndash;2020 |intercommunality = Grand Poitiers |coordinates = {{coord|46.3555|0.2010|format=dms|display=inline,title}} |elevation m = 105 |elevation min m = 65 |elevation max m = 144 |area km2 = 42.11 |population demonym = Poitevins |population = 87435 |population date = 2014 |website = [http://www.poitiers.fr/ www.poitiers.fr] }} '''Poitiers''' is a city in [[France]], the [[Prefectures in France|prefecture]] of the [[Vienne]] [[Departments of France|department]] in the [[Nouvelle-Aquitaine]] [[Regions of France|region]]. The town is picturesque; and its streets are interesting for their remains of ancient architecture, especially of the [[Romanesque]] period, and the memories of great historical events. The city itself is very old. It already existed as a [[Gaul]]ish fort in the time when [[Julius Caesar]] came to Gaul. It was the capital of the [[Pictones]] [[tribe]]. == Geography == Poitiers is in the centre of the Vienne department, between the [[valley]]s of the Boivre and the [[Clain]] [[river]]s. The old town is on the [[:wikt:slope|slopes]] and the [[summit]] of a [[plateau]] which rises 130 feet (40 m) above the [[stream]]s which surround it on three sides. Poitiers is at about {{Convert|220|km|mi