Our Blog - Limoges

The city of Limoges is known for its medieval and Renaissance enamels (Limoges enamels) on copper, for its 19th-century porcelain (Limoges porcelain) and for its oak barrels which are used for Cognac and Bordeaux production, as well as being exported to California to wineries there. But back around 10 BC, the city was founded as Augustoritum by the Romans. Later, like many towns and cities in Gaul, it was renamed after the main tribe in the area ... so the Lemovices tribe. Subsequently, the name evolved into Limoges. The city is one of France's basketball capitals, with their profession team, CSP Limoges, holding 6 European titles and being the French champion team 11 times.

We don't tend to do much in these blogs with restaurants (unless the blog is specifically about food), but this one I just HAD to make a special note about. We found it for lunch, and while the food was quite good, it was the decor that requires a noting in the blog. It is called "La Vache au Plafond", which translates to "The cow on the ceiling". And not only the cow, but the whole pasture was on the ceiling!

The Verdurier Pavilion was built in 1919 by the same architect that designed the train station that you'll see later. The octagonal building is decorated with mosaics and porcelain stoneware. We found it interesting that it was originally built as refrigeration pavilion for the storage and sale of imported meat from Argentina, since Limousin beef, which is from this area, is well-known (there is a butcher in Toulouse which sells only Limousin beef). Today it is an exhibition hall for artists.

Across from the Pavilion is Église Saint Pierre du Queyroix, which dates to the 13th century. While the majority of the church is Gothic, there are a few Romanesque elements, like the bell tower, that remain. The interior, in general, is quite plain-looking, except for these amazing 16th century stained-glass windows

Another church, this one the Église Saint-Michel-des-Lions. It gets its name to two Gallo-Roman stone lions guarding its entrance (which actually no longer really look like lions). Also in Gothic style, it was built between the 14th and 16th centuries. The bell tower is in a style that is "typical limousin", and looks a lot like the one at the Église Saint Pierre du Queyroix. In the square just in front of it is a fountain with a statue of Saint Martial, who is the patron saint of the city.

The interior of this church was a bit less plain-looking, with nicer detail on the columns and vaults.

But again, the stained-glass windows were really great.

The relics of Saint Loup and Saint Valerie are kept in the altar, built in the 19th century. It celebrates the life and miracles of St. Martial and is made up of several screens of highly-gothic carvings and statues.

Not a church, but the Cobaty fresco is a "trompe-l'œil" (an optical illusion, the literal translation is "deceive the eye"). If you look at it, it looks like the side of a couple buildings with different depths when, if fact, it is a single, very flat wall. The details ... In the windows on the left-hand building, you can see the painter Auguste Renoir and his model (close-up 2nd picture) ... upper-right window is shown the first glow of the fire of 1123 that destroyed much of the Église Saint Pierre du Queyroix (close-up 3rd picture). The 4th picture is the closeup of the curtain in the middle, which shows Limoges in the very early days.

It also shows both past and present, as there are two "modern" boys at the bottom (not shown in the original picture but here is the close-up). One is holding a basketball and wearing a cap, which represents the famous basketball team CSP Limoges, while the other plays a saxophone.

The Central Market Halls in Limoges were built between 1885 and 1889 and are currently undergoing renovations. The brick-and-metal structure, which was designed by two colleagues of Gustave Eiffel (the Eiffel Tower in Paris). Around the top, you can see a porcelain frieze consisting of 368 panels in the Limoges style showing products sold at the market (game, meat, fruit, etc).

Next, an area of the centre-ville called the Quartier de la Boucherie, or the Butcher's district. Here you will find lots of half-timbered houses. Through history and up to the middle of the 20th century, 6 families held a monopoly on butchers in town, and they had their homes in this area. In the 15th century, they built a small chapel to honor Saint-Aurélien, the patron saint of butchers. It is a tiny little chapel, but it has quite a few statues (Saint Anthony of Padua, Saint Catherine), altarpieces, and paintings.

The Limoges Hotel de Ville, or City Hall, was built in 1883 and designed by the same architect who designed the Palace of Versailles. The facade includes a clock supporting the coat of arms of Limoges, surrounded by two pediments on which there are two great allegorical figures of Tony Noël, representing goldsmith and enamelry.

In the middle of the square in front of City Hall is a fountain of porcelain, bronze, and granite built between 1892 and 1893.

This was an interesting monument, the monument in memory of the children of the Haute-Vienne (the department) who died between 1870 and 1871 during the Franco-Prussian War. It is one of the rare examples of monuments of this scale devoted to this war. There are five characters: a woman personifying the department of Haute-Vienne, an officer, a maverick, a Bugle of the Mobile National Guard, and a Line Infantryman.

Bénédictins Train Station, named for a nearby Benedictine monastery that closed during the French Revolution. This train station dates from 1929 although the Great Hall was restored in 1979 and when a fire broke out in 1998 under the station's dome, the dome was rebuilt to its original design. The statues on the exterior personify industry, in particular, porcelain. Inside the main dome, you can see carvings that represent the 4 provinces that are serviced by the train company.

And last, but certainly not least, the Cathedral of Limoges, which dates back to 1273 (start of construction). The cathedral is a mix of styles, including Gothic, Renaissance, and Romanesque. The model in the first picture shows the whole cathedral, since I wasn't able to get a picture of all of it. But the clock tower (to me) looks out of place with the rest of the cathedral, as it is very, very bland. The rest of the cathedral is very Gothic, with high vaults, flying buttresses, and flamboyant Gothic spires.

As we entered from the rather bland bell tower, there were some carvings that date back to Roman times. The entrance porch and first 2 floors are Roman, with the rest of the bell tower is Gothic.

The construction actually went from 1273, when the main altar and chapels were created, through 1888 when the final side chapels were finished at the opposite end where it connects to the bell tower (which was completed around 1380). Much of what is visible today is quite Gothic, with the high, pointed vaults and great stained-glass windows.

The baptismal font chapel was restored in 1865 and includes the baptismal font covered with an enameled cover and a bronze statue of John the Baptist. The stained glass shows the baptism of Christ.

The rood screen, which separates the liturgical choir from the nave, is quite impressive. It is from 1533-1534 and is in a Renaissance style. Interestingly enough, most of the statues are missing their heads. This is somewhat common in France as during the French Revolution, many things that were Christian were destroyed as part of the "dechristianization of France".

The Chapel of Saint Valérie contains a set of paintings on the walls from 1866 with scenes of the life of Saint Valérie of Limoges. According to legend, Valérie is the daughter of the governor of Limoges and has been "promised" to a high Roman official. She refuses to marry him, as he was a "pagan", and he has her beheaded on the spot. At this point, the miracle occurs when the executioner is struck by the divine lightning and dies, and Valérie picks up her head and walks to Saint-Étienne where Saint Martial is celebrating a mass. The holy man prays for the soul of the girl who dies in the peace of God.

Another chapel with nice paintings on the wall, the Chapel of the Virgin, which was decorated in 1859 by painter Alexandre Denuelle with scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary. While these were done close to the same time as the ones above, you can see a definite difference in style and color.

This is the Chapel of the Sacred Heart, which was restored in 1862 (previously it was the Chapel of the 3 Kings). The sculptures on the bottom row were done in 1862 by a Parisian sculpture, the bottom row shows Saint Bonaventure (shown in his Franciscan robes with a book), Saint John (with a chalice), Jesus (the "Sacred Heart"), Saint Paul (with his sword), and Saint Thomas of Aquinas (showing the sun on the chest of a Dominican friar).

Above the statues is another row, these being paintings of prophets of the Old Testament: Isaiah, Jeremiah, David, Ezechiel, and Daniel

The Saint-Jean door, which is on the North side, is the only decorative door to the cathedral. It is in a flamboyant gothic style, and over the door is stained glass (which you can see better from the interior picture, which is less decorative).

As we went around the corner, there are these 4 nice statues.