Limoges, Two for One...

It's a curious fact that while the name of Limoges is synonymous with fine enamels and porcelain the world over, relatively few people really know the city itself. We find out what they're missing.

Limoges has long occupied a key location, not only beside a major river, but also on the strategic road map of France, making it a familiar name to long-distance travellers. When Bordeaux and Clermont-Ferrand are finally linked by the long-awaited autoroute, much of the freight traffic which currently sees the long haul via Limoges as the simplest option will no longer do so. For now, though, the city remains in every sense at a crossroads, but as is so often the case with the more familiar-sounding cities of France, get into it and it gets into you. And Limoges effectively gives you two cities for the price of one.

The site, spread across seven hills on the right bank of the River Vienne, was an obvious spot for early settlement. By the first century BC the area close to a point at which the river could be forded had developed into the sizeable Gallic commune of Lemovices. With the coming of Imperial rule, however, it was suddenly transformed into the new Roman city of Augustoritum, being located at the intersection of two new trading routes: the Via Agrippa, running between Lyon and Saintes, and the Avaricum Tolosa route, connecting Bourges with Toulouse. The city's future as one of the most important commercial centres in the Empire thus seemed assured, and a broad stone bridge (later to become known as the Pont St Martial) was constructed, followed by a forum, a theatre, a triumphal arch, arenas larger than those of either Arles or Nîmes, plus an aqueduct and public baths reputed to have been among the most sumptuous in Gaul. For all its aspirations, however, the Roman utopian urban plan never quite achieved its full potential, and remained relatively sparsely populated. By the third Century AD repeated Barbarian attacks had compelled the population to retreat to the security of the hilltop of St Etienne, which thereafter developed as le Cité.

With the fall of the Roman Empire, Augustoritum finally became Limoges and regained some of its former influence. After the death of Saint-Martial, who had brought Christianity to the region during the third Century AD, the large Romanesque abbey built to house his relics became an important stop along the pilgrimage route to Santiago di Compostella, and also became a renowned centre for spiritual and cultural activity, with the second largest library in France (after that of Cluny, to which it was affiliated). It is also credited with having been the birthplace of European polyphonic music, and by the 12th Century its exquisite champlevé enamels were being exported throughout the Christian world. Not surprisingly, an uneasy rivalry arose between le Château, centred around the abbey, and le Cité, which included the Cathedral and Bishop's Palace. Today, the heart of the city has embraced the two former rivals, but the differences, as we'll discover, remain profound.

Tourism-wise, le Cité is today by far the most visited area, and is sited high above the river, well away from the commercial development to which Limoges owes its continuing prosperity. The cathedral of Saint-Etienne is a glorious medieval Gothic creation which at first glance evokes (albeit in tough Limousin granite) much of the spirit of the great cathedrals of the Paris basin. But there are also numerous similarities to those of Clermont-Ferrand and Narbonne, lending support to the view that all three were probably designed by the same architect, Jean Deschamps. The cathedral of Limoges was commenced in 1273, construction systematically replacing its more modest predecessor until, like its contemporaries, it ran out of both funds and enthusiasm. The building therefore never received its planned monumental western façade and was compelled to retain the massive, three-storey base of the old Romanesque bell-tower. To harmonise with the new construction, its heavy masonry received a further four octagonal stages in lighter Limousin Gothic style, taking the tower to 60m (203ft). The spire which once crowned the summit was destroyed by lightning in 1571 and never replaced, but the tower nevertheless still rises assertively above the city skyline. Down below, the mood within the vast granite nave is calm and even sombre, yet when the sun streams through the huge stained glass windows and fills the interior with a dazzling medieval light-show, the effect is extraordinary.

Things are similarly colourful in the gardens tucked away between the cathedral, the former Bishop's Palace and the river. Almost two hectares are devoted to ornamental beds, tree-lined walks and other features of what were originally the Palace gardens. Several thousand plant species from five continents are also labelled in a restful botanical garden area overlooked by gargoyles peering out from the southern façade of the cathedral. It's a fitting place in which to contemplate the haunting story recounted in the adjoining Musée de la Résistance (Haute-Vienne having been at the forefront of the French Résistance movement during WWII).

The elegant 18th Century former Bishop's Palace itself is now the Musée de l'Evêché, most of whose collections celebrate the full beauty of the Limousin enamelers' art from the 12th Century until the present day, plus collections of Egyptology, lapidary, local archaeology and French painting (including work by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, who was born locally in 1841).

The surrounding area is itself something of a living museum, rue des Allois and rue Haute-Cité in particular still being lined with half-timbered houses. To the east of the cathedral is a network of steep, narrow streets where the Puy St-Etienne plateau suddenly falls away to the Quai Louis Goujaud and the riverbank. While the traffic heads for the nearby Pont-Neuf, walkers have other options, most notably straight ahead, across the eight-arched Pont St Etienne, built in the style of a scaled-up pack-mule bridge in 1210 to provide access to the Cité. The trees below the ramparts have now obscured the long-celebrated views of the cathedral, but continue across and follow the footpath for a short distance along the left bank and all is revealed to perfection.

Le Cité, then, has the most obvious tourist sights, but the pulse of modern Limoges still beats around the ancient le Château area. The abbey on which its fortunes were originally founded was lost during the Revolution, but there remains much to see, the wealth of historic architecture providing an atmospheric setting for the lifestyles of the present day. The Cour du Temple, for example, is a complete 16th Century courtyard preserved at the end of a narrow passage in rue du Temple, and is now home to an atelier, a couple of boutiques and a café. Considerably more obvious, yet in its own way just as historic, is the area of 14th and 15th Century houses and squares known as la Boucherie. The name recalls the long period when no fewer than eighty butchers shops traded in rue de la Boucherie alone. No. 36 has been preserved, allowing visitors to see the shop, an ice-store, former slaughter-room, stables, etc. Family, workers and apprentices lived in the rooms above, the attics being used for salting meats and drying skins. Add to this the former holding pen for animals awaiting slaughter in Place de la Barreyrrett, and you begin to see just how much city life has changed.

Away from la Boucherie many of the later facades overlooking the main shopping boulevards could rival those of Bordeaux for elegance, qualities to which the broad, split-level expanse of Place de la Motte has responded with some creativity. Across from the vast 19th Century indoor market hall, formerly bare walls are now disguised by a giant trompe-l'oil known as the Fresque Cobaty, created by the artists from Lyon and depicting personalities and events in the long history of the city. The city's civic architecture makes a lasting impression, particularly the Renaissance Hôtel de Ville and the Gare des Bénédictins. The latter is the city's railway station, a dazzling showpiece of Art Déco created in 1929 in reinforced concrete and stained glass, topped off with a giant copper-covered dome and a 60m campanile. The name? A reference to the Benedictine convent on whose former site La Gare now stands.

There's much more to life in Limoges than a pleasing built environment, of course. The city prides itself in having met the most stringent current environmental standards ahead of time and has invested in a near-silent, non-polluting trolley-bus transport network. It also boasts around 600 Ha of parks and green areas for its 230 000 residents (47% of whom are under the age of 30). Add its National Drama School, National School for Decorative Arts and a bewildering choice of theatres and cinemas, and the city today seems to have more than lived up to the promise of its illustrious past.

© Words and pictures Roger Moss
This feature first appeared in everything France magazine Issue 8

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