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Limoges Travel Guide, France

Limoges, the very name reminds one of the world-famous French crockery! Surely, you can pick some selected pieces for your collection or just take a peek at the museum exhibits including cutlery made for celebrities like Charles and Di, even Napoleon Bonaparte. Then it is not just the allure of fine-china and enamelware that the administrative capital of the Limousine region of France promises you; rather, its rich past and an equally fascinating present make it a great place to visit in your next holidays.

Standing on the right bank of the Vienna River, Limoges has been the hot-seat of important cultures. It has been inhabited by a Gallic tribe and then by the Romans; Christian-faith spread around the 3rd century and the place boasts of many world-renowned Christian shrines. Contemporary Limoges is a busy university town. There are many bars and clubs for leisure travelers to unwind.

Statistics

Area: 2,945 sq km

Population: 278439 (1999 figure)

Currency: Euro, French Franc

Language: French

Architecture

The architecture of Limoges bears testimony to the fact that the place has been occupied by various people at different points in time and that the city has been built, destroyed and re-built time and again. While the excavated remains of the Gaulish community show that they had what we can best call some pre-urban settlements, the Romans had followed their Roman square architecture plan.

Though many religious edifices were destroyed during the French Revolution, Limoges still houses some of world’s most famous shrines of Christendom like the Crypt of Saint Martial, the Gothic cathedral of St-Etienne (construction of this edifice began in 1273 and continued till 1888), the Chapelle Saint-Aurélien. You will also come across many secular structures like bridges and museums named after Christian saints.

Infrastructure

Limoges is known as the porcelain capital of France and though other industries have come up in the region, the porcelain industry is to this day the backbone of Limoges’ economy. The porcelain factories have been upgraded and make use of modern production techniques.

Limoges enjoys excellent transportation connectivity - in fact, it is a railway junction on the main Paris-Toulouse line; no wonder it has gained enough popularity as a tourist destination.

People and Culture

As such, there can be no two talks of the cultural superiority of the French people and indeed the many influences on the region have rendered Limoges culturally very rich. The city (and the surrounding region) has gifted to the world eminent personalities belonging to different walks of life - be it musicians, painters, practitioners of other forms of fine arts, military genius’, even notable statesmen. Limoges was the birthplace of the famous poet and scholar Jean Daurat (he was a member of the Pleiades). The eminent French painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir was born here as was Henri François d'Aguesseau who later went on to become the chancellor of France. Of course, it is not only these prominent figures, but each inhabitant of Limoges who zealously guards the heritage and cultural supremacy.