Limoges

Limoges (French pronunciation:/liРусский( listen)In the West: Lemòtges) is a historical capital city of the old French region of Lemosin (now New Aquitaine) and prefecture of the district of Limoges. It is famous for its porcelain factories. Had to. 140 138 inhabitants in 2008. Its extension is of 77,45 km2. It is part of the Camino de Santiago (Via Lemovicensis).

Demographics

• The value for 2006 is an INSEE estimate.

Economy

Limoges, like many other cities, for a long time based its economy on industry, which was very active until the crisis of the last decades. This sector was dominated by the famous Limoges porcelain, made from kaolin from Saint-Yrieix-la-Perche. An important textile tradition also existed for a long time. From 1831 until the 1980s (1984, closure of the Heyraud factory), the shoe industry was the city's second largest activity: it had some 7,000 workers, divided into dozens of companies of different sizes, including mention Monteux and Heyraud; Of all of them, only the company J.M. Weston.

Climate

Limoges has an oceanic climate of type Cfb according to the Köppen climate classification.

Average climatic parameters of Limoges in the period 1981-2010
Month	Ene.	Feb.	Mar.	Open up.	May.	Jun.	Jul.	Ago.	Sep.	Oct.	Nov.	Dec.	Annual
Average temperature (°C)	6.9	8.3	11.5	14.1	18.0	21.4	23.9	23.8	20.4	16.1	10.4	7.6	15.2
Temp. medium (°C)	1.5	1.7	3.9	5.9	9.5	12.6	14.6	14.5	11.7	9.0	4.5	2.2	7.7
Total precipitation (mm)	91.9	79.8	78.7	90.8	95.7	77.5	65.6	75.0	74.1	93.4	101.3	99.7	1023.5
Precipitation days (≥ 1 mm)	14	11	11	12	13	9	9	9	10	12	13	13	136
Hours of sun	86	104	157	168	205	227	238	231	192	133	81	78	1900
Source: MeteoFrance. Precipitation and temperature data for the period 1981-2010 and insolation for the period 1991-2010 in Limoges (14 November 2012)

Transportation

Limoges has one international airport, called Limoges Bellegarde.

Historical monuments and other places of interest

Panoramic view of the city of Limoges.

Religious buildings

Cathedral of San Esteban

Church of Saint-Michel-des-Lions

Church of Saint-Pierre-du-Queyroix

St. Stephen's Cathedral (13th-19th centuries).

Church of Saint-Michel-des-Lions (XIV century): this church It has kept since the French Revolution, the relics of San Marcial. Its architecture is characteristic of the nave-churches of the Plantagenet domains. It has magnificent stained glass windows from the 15th and 16th centuries, two medieval Pietas and numerous objects of worship, an elegant Limousin-style bell tower from the 14th century14th century with a copper ball, two Gallo-Roman lions at the foot of the bell tower, which have given rise to the monument.

Church of Saint-Pierre-du-Queyroix (13th century): origin Romanesque, rebuilt between the 13th and 15th centuries. A remarkable Renaissance-style stained glass window, a Christ from the XIII century and many more details, such as a Baroque altarpiece and notable statues. After this church, the famous Cercle Saint-Pierre basketball club, better known by the acronym CSP, was born more than fifty years ago.

Church of Santa Maria (13th century): is a part of the old church convent of the Dominicans, preacher brothers or Jacobins (the rest of the church shelters the municipal archives of Limones). It has a magnificent altarpiece. Inquisitor Bernard Gui was buried in this church.

Church of Beaune-les-Mines: this small Romanesque church has preserved a very beautiful statue of Saint Christopher.

Chapel of Saint-Aurélien (14th to 17th centuries): this small building houses the relics of the second bishop of Limoges, patron saint of the butchers' guild. It has beautiful medieval statues and a magnificent Baroque altarpiece. The building is still maintained by the neighborhood butchers, who bought it as a National Property during the Revolution, saving it from destruction.

Early Christian Baptistery (5th century century): Saint-Etienne square. It was located at the foot of the north portico of the cathedral, called the Portico of San Juan, on the site of an old parish church, suppressed at the time of the Revolution, established under the dedication of San Juan Bautista. It was a vast building with a hexagonal plan centered on the baptismal font. Each of the sides opened onto a square room. The entrance was made by a staircase with three doors open to the west. The remains of this baptistery are currently covered, awaiting an architectural decision for its enhancement.

Crypt of Saint Martial of Limoges (X century): place de la République. This crypt still preserves the tombs of Saint Martial, the first bishop and patron of the city, his two companions Alpinien and Austriclinien and the legendary Sainte Valérie. It was discovered during the 1960s, when the car park at Place de la République was built. Today only a small part remains. The location of the tomb gave rise to a pilgrimage and later led to the construction of the Benedictine abbey of San Marcial. This abbey prospered and spread its influence throughout southwestern France. There magnificent manuscripts were made, today preserved in the National Library of France; The most beautiful pieces of goldsmithing from the Middle Ages, known as the Obra de Limoges, were also made there. The beginnings of poetry in the language of Oc have been located in the area of his influence and the origin of polyphony has been traced back to his musical school. Devastated at the very beginning of the XIX century of that monument, nothing remains today except the crypt.

Sainte-Marie de la Règle Abbey (IX-century XVIII): Founded in 817 by Ludovico Pío, this Abbey was close to the Cathedral of Saint Stephen. It was an important female convent, run by abbesses from the Limousin nobility. From 1790 the Abbey buildings housed a detention center, before being almost entirely destroyed. Under the First Empire the building was built around what remained of the Abbess's apartments, the Grand Seminary, which remained there until 1905. Most of the buildings were demolished in the 1960s, mainly the apartments of the Abbess, from the 17th century: the seminary chapel (never actually consecrated) serves as an annex to the municipal media library, the Depósito Regional Legal and the Museum of the Resistance. In the former dining room of the seminary there is a reception center for the Compagnons du tour de France. Nothing remains of the old abbey itself except a magnificent basement under the site of the Abbess's apartments.

Abbey of the Règle

Convent des Carmes (13th century) century: avenue Saint-Éloi; A bank was built on the site of the convent church, which has carefully left the ancient arches on its walls, in which magnificent medieval paintings remain. The chapter house is preserved on rue Neuve-des-Carmes, which crosses the place where the old convent buildings stood. These had been sold at the time of the Revolution to various individuals. A fresco from the late Middle Ages -despite having been declared a historical monument- was removed and placed elsewhere.

Bishop's Palace (18th century) century: by the Limousin architect Joseph Brousseau, this palace it is characteristic of neoclassicism; only the chapel retains its original decoration. It is home to the Municipal Museum of Limoges, which houses collections of enamels, paintings and prehistoric or ancient objects. The bishop's gardens, terraced in the French style, were rebuilt in 1976 (parterres, walks, ponds and orangerie) as a complement to the old episcopal palace designed by Brousseau. The place, declared a Monument, is open all year round; guided tours are organized on request by the green areas service of the city of Limoges.

Cathedral of San Esteban, garden and museum of the Obispado

Convent of the Visitation (17th century) century: this former convent, used for years recent to the Army, it has preserved its vaulted church built by Brousseau. The north façade, 100.50 meters long, dates from the Second Empire. The barracks were sold to the General Council, which will regroup its services there after conditioning, transformations and extensions in semi-basements.

Civil monuments

Amphitheater of Limoges: a notable part of this work, one of the main monuments of the Gallo-Roman city of Augustoritum and once one of the largest in Gaul. Excavations were made in it at the end of the 1960s. The remains, once exhumed and valued, were reburied under the Jardin d'Orsay.

Central market

Gare des Bénédictins (1924–1929): the railway reaches Limoges in 1856. The first construction station is completed in 1859. It soon becomes too small and extensions are carried out that are not very aesthetic. Then a new station is built following the plans of Roger Gonthier, who designs a building with a dome and bell tower on a stilt above the tracks; the building is made of reinforced concrete covered with limestone plates. At the entrance, some sculptures symbolize porcelain and enamel, and inside, the four French provinces. The stained glass windows are by the Limoges artist Chigot. The bell tower, exactly on the axis of the Avenue de la Liberation and the Champ-de-Juillet, is 66m high.

Central Market (XIX century): it is called in French "Les Halles". The "belly of Limoges" was designed by Gustave Eiffel's studios. Above the iron arcades there is a porcelain frieze that represents the different products sold inside. The beautiful Place de la Motte was redesigned in the mid-1990s (excavations of the viscountal motte, Gallo-Roman and Merovingian remains, creation of an underground car park) inspired by a very mineral aesthetic.

Pavillon du Verdurier (20th century): this Art Deco-style monument recalls some architectural details of the station or the Central Market now serves as an exhibition space after having been at other times a cold room, covered market and bus station. Octagonal in plan, built in 1919 in concrete, designed by Roger Gonthier, the station's architect, the exterior decoration of mosaics and ceramic stoneware is the work of a house in Boulogne-Billancourt. The interior decoration is by Léonard Chigot, father of the master glassmaker Francis Chigot. Protected and classified as monuments in the 1970s, it then became the Pavillon du Verdurier proper. The old Verdurier quarter, a very interesting medieval quarter, featured numerous Gothic stone buildings and was destroyed at the beginning of the XX century due to to its unhealthiness.

Neighborhood of bridges

Adrien Dubouché National Porcelain Museum (XIX century): building with eclectic architecture Inspired by the Renaissance. It houses porcelain collections and is one of the nine museums in France where it was tested for free in 2008.

Town Hall and porcelain fountain (19th century): inaugurated in 1883, built thanks to the legacy of a rich donor, Fournier. Its rich facade surmounted by a small bell tower is loaded with the four medallions of four famous Limousin: Vergniaud, Limousin, d'Aguesseau and Jourdan. On the first floor, the wedding hall, the banquet hall and the "blue room" constitute, together with the grand staircase, a testament to turn-of-the-century architecture XIX. The square located in front of the building is occupied in its center by a fountain that mixes stone, decorated porcelain and bronze.

Prefecture (XX century), built on the ruins of the Viraclaud neighborhood, has a reception room, the "Marshals' room", which presents a ceiling with magnificent paintings and two paintings to the glory of the department: Marshal Jourdan and Marshal Bugeaud. The honor staircase is illuminated by a large stained glass window representing porcelain.

Hôtel Estienne de la Rivière: this former private mansion, seat of the Treasurers of France before the Revolution, was transformed at the beginning of the century XIX. It is located in the Présidial Square, opposite the School of the same name, which was the quartermaster of the Généralité de Limoges before the Revolution, and then the Prefecture until 1908; next to it is the Présidial, court and today annexed to the Faculty of Law.

Hôtel Maledent de Feytiat (17th century century): Rue Haute-de-la- comedy; This small building preserved from the time of its construction a classical portico and an interior courtyard with a colonnade.

Lycée Gay-Lussac (17th century): the former Jesuit college, of which only the chapel survived and was rebuilt according to the plans of the architect Brousseau in a brilliant classical style. The chapel, which still serves as a gym, contains a remarkable Baroque altarpiece that is in danger (specifically, it was badly damaged by a fire). The façade and bell towers of this chapel continue to deteriorate, despite its declaration as a historical monument.

Limoges multimedia French-speaking library: built by the architect Pierre Riboulet, it opened in 1998 on the site of the former general hospital (17th-18th centuries), as well as a very important Gallo-Roman archaeological site. With 58,000 registered users (1/3 of the population of Limoges, when the national average is 18%), the BFM receives nearly 500,000 visitors per year, with an average of 2,000 people/day and peak attendance of 4500 visitors on Saturdays.

Castles

Château de Beauvais (18th century): located in Landouge, it is the former home of of the abbots of the Abbey of San Marcial. It was built according to the plans of the Limousin architect Joseph Brousseau in the 18th century.

Chateau des Essarts: located in the Mazelle valley, near Beaune-les-Mines, in the middle of a 19th century landscaped park XIX (arboretum, verger, parterres avec buis), is a castle from the XVII declared a Historic Monument. The facades and roofs date from the 17th century, the internal staircase is remarkable. An exhibition on the Lords of the Essarts and his relationship with the Order of Grandmont (12th-14th centuries) as well as the three Limousin Popes of the 14th century. A giant sequoia (Sequoiadendron giganteum) and stem oaks (Quercus robur) can be found in the park.
On opening days, the tour is guided by the owners in the castle and in the park.

Borie Castle, Solignac.

La Bastide castle, private property.

Fontgeaudrant Castle, private property.

Crochat Castle, today a convent.

Jouxtens Castle or Saint-Lazare Castle, private property; the surrender of the German Limoges garrison was negotiated here in August 1944, the owner being a Swiss national at the time.

Castle of Faugeras, built shortly before 1742, today converted into a Hotel ****.

Borie Castle (Solignac commune), seat of the Limoges Baroque Ensemble.

Squares, bridges and other constructions

Denis Dussoubs Square

The Bridge of the Revolution

Old Bridge of San Esteban

New bridge

Denis Dussoubs Square (18th century) - this former royal square is surrounded by magnificent red brick buildings. It marks the northern "gate" of the old Castillo quarter. It is one of the liveliest squares in the city (cinema, numerous bars, restaurants). To the south of the old Castle district is another square from the XVIII century: the Place Manigne, disfigured by a modern building.

Place Fontaine des Barres (17th century): developed around a fountain closed today. Surrounded by private buildings from the 17th-18th centuries, as well as the portico of the old convent of the Daughters of Our Lady.

San Marcial Bridge (base from Roman times).

St. Stephen's Bridge (13th century century).

Revolution Bridge.

New Bridge.

New bridge over the river Vienne, inaugurated in 2006: it was jokingly called, on April 1st, «le pont Ticaud» in reference to the ponticauds, the inhabitants of the Limoges bridge district. Since then a plate seems to make the name official.

Interesting neighborhoods and buildings

Village de la Boucherie (Middle Ages and 17th century): it is one one of the most picturesque districts of Limoges, along the street of the same name and the surrounding alleyways, the half-timbered houses —occupied on the ground floor by old shops (butchers, tripe makers)— and the curtained windows recall the neighborhood activities, centered around meat. The traditional Casa de la Carnicería resurrects an old butcher shop: shop, kitchen, stables-slaughterhouse, room, granary-skin dryer. The professional, family and religious life of the Limoges butchers is discovered in it.

Abbessaille (Middle Ages): In the past, this picturesque and quiet neighborhood was home to washerwomen and Naveteaux (from the nearby place called "Naveix"). With its narrow, sloping streets, it stretches between the Vienne River, the Cathedral and the Boulevard des Petits-Carmes.

Four des Casseaux (19th century): one of the last porcelain kilns of the city, witness to the industrial past of Limoges.

Cité des Coutures and Cité-jardin de Beaublanc: working-class neighborhoods built at the turn of the century XX by Roger Gonthier, the architect of the Gare des Benedictines and the Pavillon du Verdurier.

Cour du Temple (17th century): small inner courtyard bordered by a private mansion with a colonnade and wooden walls, without a doubt the most charming place in Limoges. Rue du Temple, very close, has beautiful mansions that deserve to be restored. The private houses in the area, with half-timbered facades, are linked to each other by Italian-style open galleries and Renaissance stairs.

Limoges and river

The subsoil of Limoges has two or three levels of vaulted and subterranean cellars (many times aqueducts), either dug in the tuft or with shoring, which form an impressive network. Its construction probably extends over several centuries. Over the last twenty years, the number of cavities and underground galleries that Limoges has has decreased, something very unfortunate, under the combined effects of urban planning, pipeline works and some negligence.

Sports

There is a basketball club, Limoges CSP of the LNB Pro A (the French first division), which plays its games at the Palais des Sports in Beaublanc, the same venue that Limoges Handball sometimes uses for handball.

Twinned cities

• Charlotte (United States of America
• Fürth (GermanyGermany)
• Grodno (BelarusBelarus)
• Pilsen (Czech RepublicCzech Republic)
• Seto (Seto)JapanJapan)