When I stepped into the room where medieval troubadours sang to Eleanor of Aquitaine in Poitiers, my first impulse was to shout. About 160 feet in length, the soaring stone space is capped by a timber ceiling crafted by nautical carpenters to look like the inverted hull of a ship. The aula, as this ceremonial hall was called in the 12th century, is so vast that it’s tempting to make noise just to hear the echo.
Actually, I could yell, or roll out a yoga mat in front of the magnificent sculpted fireplace, or set up my laptop on one of the wood tables created by a local 3-D-printing enterprise. Because this room, inaccessible to the public since the 19th century when the Palace of the Counts of Poitou-Dukes of Aquitaine was converted into a courthouse, was reopened last year as a “covered public square.”