Attractions and Places To See around Saint-Gence - Top 20

A truly impressive place, a must-see if you've ever been to this region. I also recommend taking the audio tour. Overnight stays are available at Camping & Gîtes En Campagne, 18 km west of Oradour-sur-Glane.

The fresco in Place de la Motte is a tribute to the history of the neighborhood and the city. The integration into the environment is remarkable, incorporating architectural details such as the half-timbering and the color of the granite. Revealed before our eyes are the evocation of the great fire of 1864, Auguste Renoir born in Limoges, the feudal mound and its ponds, the city's mint, and more current reminders such as the epic basketball game and the jazz festival!

A granite hall church in the late Gothic style (14th-15th centuries), topped by a typical Limousin bell tower, 70 meters high and adorned with a copper ball in 1824. Four corner turrets mark the start of the octagonal upper floors. The current church was rebuilt on the site of a chapel dedicated very early to the Archangel Saint Michael on a high point in the city, along which the old Roman road from Lyon to Saintes passed. It houses the relics of Saint Martial, the city's first bishop, and Saint Loup, his successor, saved from the revolutionaries of 1793. That year, the church was declared a "Temple of Reason." The head (skull) of Saint Martial, patron saint of the city, is shown to the people every seven years during a solemn display, and his bust framed by the letters S and M still constitutes the "furniture" of the coat of arms of Limoges.

In the heart of Limoges, a timeless district nestles just a stone's throw from the market halls. On the menu: picturesque heritage, good restaurants, artisan shops, bohemian cafés... There's no doubt about it, it smells like a gourmet walk that flatters our taste buds and our curiosity. A bit of history: head to the Saint-Aurélien chapel A medieval marvel enhanced by its baroque decorum. The masterpieces begin even before you cross the entrance. There, on the district's central square, charming and on a human scale, the pretty building offers a bell tower covered in chestnut shingles. A cross sculpted in soft stone and a calvary recall the devotion of the historic people of the district, generations of butcher families. It is this body so necessary for supplying an entire city that settled here centuries ago. All the houses were inhabited by people in the trade. The interior of the chapel holds many beauties: an altarpiece housing the relic of the patron saint Aurélien, ex-votos plastered on the walls, remarkable sculptures including the famous group "The Child with the Kidney". To understand life in the past, a museum space, the Maison de la Boucherie at 36 rue, is open in the summer or by reservation at the Tourist Office the rest of the year. You enter rooms kept in their original condition with utensils and personal objects. From the shop to the attic via the slaughterhouse, you change era. Fascinating. Picturesque and modern: the lively Boucherie district. Coming out of there, you have to stroll through the alleys, find the shaded and discreet Place Barreyrette, admire the countless half-timbered houses, scrutinize the sculpted, upright stones. For a drink or a bite on rue de la Boucherie Each storefront is more beautiful than the other, don't miss the bookseller's which is one of the most photographed. In the line of sight going up, the fabulous Halles Centrales in the Baltard style with 368 porcelain panels. It is the promise of taste. It is also a belly of Limoges that is taking shape: the restaurants of the Boucherie are renowned, the bars well filled for the most lively discussions, and even a restaurant-grocery store where we live "local". - Restaurant Les Petits Ventres, for lovers of traditional French cuisine. - Restaurant Le Versant, for cheese lovers, but not only! - Restaurant CHAM FEL, for a taste journey around the Mediterranean. - Café Cantine Épicerie La Locale, for a meal, a drink or 100% local gourmet shopping. - Restaurant L’Amphitryon, to enjoy exceptional and inspired cuisine. - Restaurant Café Traiteur Idylle, to enjoy delicious hearty brunches. - Bar Le Duc Etienne, for a friendly after-work with friends and why not until the end of the night. For shopping at independent retailers On the shopping side, great shopping is to be expected at designers, decorators, and the famous Galerie du Canal which showcases a unique know-how of our destination: enamel. - Boutique Ferdinand, the nice shop where you can find gifts for all tastes. - Boutique Madam Edit’, addicted to stationery, this shop is made for you! - Concept Store Stronzo Shop, a real “Alibaba’s cave” to pimp your interior. / Boutique Bazar Marguerite, the girly decoration shop that will make you fall in love. - Concept Store La Manufacture Française, 100% ethical, 100% made in France to please you without feeling guilty. - Boutique Les Petits Palmiers, fan of the bohemian chic look? Head over to their place! - Galipettes and Roudelous, looking for the perfect gift for your little ones? It's this way. - Atelier Feu et Flamme, in the same vein as the Galerie du Canal, discover unique creations around the arts of fire An event to remember: La Frairie des Petits Ventres Finally, a date to remember, the third Friday of October when La Frairie des petits-ventres takes place, a major event around taste, and good in specialties like girot, chestnut black pudding, veal head and strawberry, sheep's tongue, sheep's balls but also potato pâté, galétous, clafoutis and flognarde…! To say that you are in the middle of a city in a "village" atmosphere is to admit that time does not pass like elsewhere here.

Saint Loup, Bishop of Limoges, gave a Saint-Michel chapel to the canons of Saint Martial around 630. Two fires in Limoges, in 1123 and 1147, destroyed the church. It was the monk Pierre de Verteuil who rebuilt it. The church was consecrated in 1213. This new church collapsed and the first stone of a new church was laid in 1364. Of this, two chapels and part of the walls remain. In 1552, enlargement work was carried out with a bay added to the west, remarkable for its large stained glass windows. Work was carried out over the following centuries, particularly on the bell tower (1604, 1754, 1810). It is a Gothic-style church, built between the 14th and 16th centuries. It has a typical Limousin bell tower (like the Saint-Étienne cathedral) topped with a curious metal ball. In 1810, when lightning struck the church bell tower, the religious building was damaged. The soldier in charge of the project to restore the monument's spire had the idea of topping it with a ball, "to facilitate triangulation operations and geodesic measurements". This sphere weighs 600 kg and is about two meters in diameter. The people of Limoges have become accustomed to this military appendage (a hotel even borrows its name from it: the Hôtel de la Boule d'Or) which is very exposed to the wind and once again puts the building in danger. Restoration work is underway and the debate rages between those who want a bell tower with or without a ball. The members of the Limousin Archaeological and Historical Society are also divided between boulophiles and boulophobes. The Prefect of the time decided by asking the opinion of the Ministry of Fine Arts. A new ball had to replace the old one; the First World War was declared. The new sphere was openwork and made of copper. It waited until the end of the war to find its place alongside the weather vane, which had not moved since 1824. The church was listed as a historical monument in 1903. The lions, from the Gallo-Roman period, were probably funerary monuments placed at the entrance to the public ancient necropolises. They always remained in the same place, once the cemetery became Christian, then when the cemetery was moved for reasons of sanitation.

In France there are 173 basilicas. Saint-Michel-des-Lions becomes the 174th", explains Father François Renard. At the head of the Saint-Martial parish, which includes, in addition to Saint-Michel, the churches of Saint-Joseph and Saint-Pierre-du-Queyroix, he learned the news on February 2, 2023. Noting that there was no basilica in Limousin, Monsignor Bozo, Bishop of Limoges, launched the procedure in 2020. The process was long and laborious. First, he made his request to all the bishops of France. 97% responded favorably to this request. Then he sought the agreement of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, placed under the authority of a cardinal prefect. With the help of Mathias Martin, a layman, member of the sacred art commission in Limoges, Father Renard, the bishop and all the parish's vital forces responded to a questionnaire in Latin. They drew up an inventory of the monument and created a complete list of the movable and liturgical heritage contained in this place. Sent to Rome in April 2021, this document took a long time to return to Limoges. In November, Monsignor Bozo, passing through the Vatican, relaunched the prelates. A tenacity that proved to be profitable. If the cathedral remains the mother church of a city, the basilica is, for tourists and pilgrims, a reference. To obtain this title, the building must be built on a tomb that is very strong in terms of symbolism and commemoration. Saint-Michel houses the tomb of Saint Martial, thirteenth apostle of Aquitaine and above all the first bishop of Limoges. Thus, Saint-Michel is linked to the universal church of Rome. As luck would have it, it became a basilica when the 2023 ostensions began on March 19. That day, during the flag-raising ceremony, François Renard read the decree during the mass. The blessing will then follow. Believers or not, the people of Limoges are attached to what must now be called the basilica. In the 6th century, there was a small chapel dedicated to Saint Michael and John the Baptist on this site. Founded in 535 by Rorice II, Bishop of Limoges, it was located in the middle of a cemetery, guarded by granite lions. They symbolize the protective deities because they are reputed to sleep with one eye and watch over sleeping souls. The work began in 1364 and was completed in 1455, the year of the consecration. In 1373, construction began on the bell tower, which was 70.91 metres high at the time. Saint-Michel-des-lions has a particularity. The pillars inside are not straight. Named "Temple of Reason" during the Revolution, the church has a rich heritage of buildings. The stained glass windows are superb. The triptych on the ostensions dates from 1875. It shows Clement V, Edward I of England, Philip the Bold, son of Saint Louis, and Alienor of Aquitaine bowing before the head of Saint Martial. The basilica should benefit from greater visibility. The town signs will be modified and inside, the information on hunting and the tomb will be denser. Its bas-reliefs show the most significant episodes in the life of the holy founder of Limoges. All of this will be highlighted. In short! Tourists and pilgrims will soon have the "basilica instinct". Jean-François Julien Le Populaire du Centre

1A large necropolis existed during the Late Empire around the current Place de la République in Limoges. Within this necropolis several mausoleums were to be located. Two are known today. One of them probably housed a cult to Saint Martial, the first bishop of Limoges, from the 5th century.

Anecdote concerning the fresco: While discussions between Cobaty and the owners of the façade were long, a favorable outcome seemed to appear in 1994 with the signing of an agreement. But at the last moment, the owner of the jewelry store concerned by the project refused to see above her establishment a naked woman, the one posing for the painter Renoir. "Rest assured, madam, we will put a veil on her chest," the members of Cobaty cleverly retorted. The agreement was saved and the fresco could take shape. However, on closer inspection, it seems that the painter's talents gave him a sufficiently keen vision to draw his model without said veil. A nice trick.