Limousin Region Information

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.

La Gare, Limoges

Limousin Love Affair ..

Mention the name Limousin to most people and chances are it won't ring too many bells, apart from the famous cattle breed. But this relative anonymity could now be about to change

Limousin Geese

About Limousin

Situated south-west of the centre of France, Limousin (population 710,000) is the name of the old province surrounding the town of Limoges. It covers an area of 16,942km2 (10,600 sq. miles) and has a population of less than 725,000. It's composed of just three departments: Cordèze (19), Creuse (23) and Haute-Vienne (87). The main towns are Brive-la-Gaillarde (19), Guèret (23) and Limoges (87). The region is world-renowned for Limoges porcelain and enamels and the tapestries of Aubusson. The region has also given its name to a school of painting known as the Crozant school, after the place where Monet painted his first series, and is home to the Centre for Contemporary Art at Vassivière.

Limousin is predominantly agricultural with very little heavy industry, which makes it largely unpolluted and unspoilt by modern industrial buildings. Being in the foothills of the Massif Central, the region features rolling hills and valleys (the lowest point, around Brive-la-Gaillarde, is almost 200m/655ft above sea level and the highest is 978m/3,200ft) without the bleakness of some mountainous areas, and almost 35 per cent of the area is forested (compared with 27 per cent nationally). Its mountains and forests, coupled with the many lakes, rivers and streams that flow into either the Loire or the Garonne, make Limousin a rural holiday paradise, and it's also becoming increasingly popular with foreign homebuyers. Limousin also boasts a vast manmade lake, the Lac de Vassivière (1,100ha/2,700 acres), the largest used for water-sports in the country and featuring beaches and adjoining holiday complexes, and is noted for its chocolate and Golden Delicious apples (reputed to be the best in the world).

Limousin is also 25 per cent woodland, but only 30 per cent grassland and 10 per cent arable land, with 35 per cent of its land unused or built on. Economically, Limousin is a relatively poor area, Creuse in particular suffering from the decline of agriculture and an ageing population.