The Seuil du Poitou is a geological denomination for an area in western central France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 where the Paris

Paris Basin (geology)

The Paris Basin is one of the major geological regions of France having developed since the Triassic on a basement formed by the Variscan orogeny.-Extent:...

 (Northeast) and Aquitaine

Aquitaine Basin (geology)

The Aquitaine Basin is after the Paris Basin the second largest Mesozoic and Cenozoic sedimentary basin in France, occupying a large part of the country's southwestern quadrant. Its surface area covers 66,000 km2 onshore. It formed on Variscan basement which was peneplained during the Permian...

 (Southwest) sedimentary basin

Sedimentary basin

The term sedimentary basin is used to refer to any geographical feature exhibiting subsidence and consequent infilling by sedimentation. As the sediments are buried, they are subjected to increasing pressure and begin the process of lithification...

s meet, and which also is a gap between the ancient mountain ranges Massif Armoricain (Northwest) and the Massif Central

Massif Central

The Massif Central is an elevated region in south-central France, consisting of mountains and plateaux....

 (Southeast).

Situated to the south of Poitiers

Poitiers

Poitiers is a city on the Clain river in west central France. It is a commune and the capital of the Vienne department and of the Poitou-Charentes region. The centre is picturesque and its streets are interesting for predominant remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque...

, the area is the drainage divide between the Loire

Loire

Loire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...

, Charente

Charente

Charente is a department in southwestern France, in the Poitou-Charentes region, named after the Charente River, the most important river in the department, and also the river beside which the department's two largest towns, Angoulême and Cognac, are sited.-History:Charente is one of the original...

 and Sèvre

Sèvre

Sèvre is the name of two rivers in France. Their name are both related to the important city they each flow through.* Sèvre Nantaise, Nantes* Sèvre Niortaise, Niort...

 basins and a border between different climactic zones

Maximum altitude on the Seuil du Poitou is 190 meters at Champagné-Saint-Hilaire

Champagné-Saint-Hilaire

Champagné-Saint-Hilaire is a commune in the Vienne department in the Poitou-Charentes region in western France.Champagné-Saint-Hilaire is located in the geographical area known as the Seuil du Poitou. It is also the highest commune in the vicinity....

.

Because it is a strategic way of access between the North and South of France, the area in or around the Seuil du Poitou has been the theater of many battles.
In 732

732

Year 732 was a leap year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 732 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* October 10 – Battle of Tours: Near...

, the Battle of Tours

Battle of Tours

The Battle of Tours , also called the Battle of Poitiers and in Battle of the Court of the Martyrs, was fought in an area between the cities of Poitiers and Tours, located in north-central France, near the village of Moussais-la-Bataille, about northeast of Poitiers...

took place some 50 km North of the Seuil du Poitou.