Notre-Dame-la-Grande in 1699; water-colour in the Gaignières collection (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Va 412a copyright Bibl. nat. de France)

At the end of the Middle Ages some fifteen shops or market stalls set up against the walls of the church, whilst a large and rather ungainly niche was added in front of the main window of the façade, with two smaller niches on either side, destined to accommodate statues of the patron saints of the city: the Virgin of the keys, Saint Hillary and Saint Radegonde. The church was sacked by Protestant troops in 1562, losing its statue of Charlemagne, the establishment's supposed founder, placed above a portal to the south. The statues of most of the figures adorning the façade were decapitated. It was not until the years 1845 to 1850 that a first restoration campaign was undertaken on this façade. Since the beginning of the twentieth century, this façade has continued to fall into disrepair, up until 1992 to 1995 when a second and spectacular restoration campaign was undertaken. This involved the installation of a drainage system, the replacement of many old stones in the walls of the western part of the nave, these stones being dangerously impregnated with salt, the removal of the salt from the facing stones and a general cleaning of the façade with algaecide products and laser micro-abrasion.