Limousin occupying the
north western part of the Massif Central, is one of the smallest
regions in France, and the one with the smallest population. The name
derives from the regional capital, Limoges, and in one form or another
has been taken worldwide to describe a type of motor car, and a famous
breed of beef cattle. The cattle originate from this region, the cars
do not.
The Limousin region is made up of just
three departments, the
Haute
Vienne (87), capital Limoges, the
Creuse (23), capital
Guéret, and the
Corrèze
(19), capital Tulle. Lying between altitudes of
200 metres and 1000 metres, the Limousin is mostly a region of hills
and valleys and low mountains. The highest point in Limousin is the
Mont Bessou, 977 metres, near Ussel, in the Corrèze department; it is
the highest point of a large upland area known as the Plateau de
Millevaches, which borders on the higher areas of the neighbouring
Auvergne
region.
The only town of any size in
the Limousin region is the city of
Limoges;
with about 140,000 inhabitants, and an urban area of almost 300,000
inhabitants, greater Limoges provides about half of all the jobs in the
region - which gives a good idea of how depopulated the rest of the
region is. Until the turn of the millennium, the Limousin, part of the "
empty France"
area, was a region that had been losing population for a century or so;
that decline has now been halted, thanks largely to an influx of people
from outside the region, in from Britain and Holland, seeking a quiet
location in which to settle. The region's second city,
Brive la Gaillarde,
has just under fifty thousand inhabitants; it is the biggest town,
though not the departmental capital, of the Corrèze
department, the southernmost of the region's three departments. Apart
from Limoges and Brive, no town in the Limousin has more than 20,000
inhabitants; towns such as
Tulle,
Aubusson
and
Guéret
are small market towns that have grown little in the last century.
Once a Roman city, Limoges, lying on the
river Vienne and on a main route between Paris and Toulouse, has always
been a major centre, in this relatively sparsely populated region. In
the Middle Ages, it was renowned as a centre of arts and culture. In
the nineteenth century, it became famed throughout Europe, and beyond,
for its porcelaine; indeed the city became rich with its porcelaine
industry, and much of the city centre dates from this period.
Brive-la-Gaillarde, on the river Corrèze
is an attractive small city, with a historic centre built in the pale
honey coloured local stone. Brive is also a communications hub, being
the point where the east west route between Lyon and Bordeaux crosses
the north-south route between Paris and Toulouse. Tulle, a few miles up
the Corrèze, is a small manufacturing town that has given its name to a
type of fine loose meshed lacy fabric, used in the clothing industry.
The town rises up the steep sides of the narrow river valley. Aubusson,
in the Creuse department, is another textile town, famed worldwide for
its tapestries; Aubusson tapestries were famous from the15th century
onwards, but the industry declined in the early twentieth century,
until it was relaunched in the late 1930's by Jean Lurçat, reputedly
the greatest tapestry designer of the 20th century.
Rural Limousin is an land of deciduous
woods and fields in the west and northwest, of sheep grazing land in
the north, and an upland area of spruce forests and grazing land on the
Plateau de Millevaches (the thousand cows plateau) in the east. In the
south west, the region borders the Dordogne; the
river Dordogne
itself cuts through the south west of the region, after several
kilometres where it, in its steep wooded valley, it forms the border
with the neighbouring region of Auvergne. Forming the north-western
edge of the Massif Central, it is a region that is relatively well
watered, particularly in the east. The south-western part of
the region, including the area round Brive, can be hot in summer.
Access:by
TGV
from Paris Gare Montparnasse, train from many
cities, motorway from Paris, Toulouse or Clermont Ferrand. Regional
airport: Limoges, served by several
low cost airlines from the UK
and Belgium.
Main
tourist attractions in
the Limousin region
Oradour-sur-Glane - frozen in time since 1944
Photo Jon's Pics
The village of Turenne
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- Limoges
(87) Regional capital, city of art and history; old city centre, with
parts dating from medieval times, cathedral, old bridges on the Vienne.
Porcelaine museum.
- Oradour
sur Glane (87); the martyred village. In 1944, the Waffen
SS torched the village and massacred a large number of inhabitants in a
mistaken act of reprisal. The village has been left as it was,
fixed in time, as a memory to the brutality and horror of war.
- Rochechouart:
(87) the impressive castle, dating partly from the 13th century, houses
administrative offices and an contemporary art gallery, as well as
historic rooms and artefacts.
- St
Junien (87): famous and large romanesque basilica.
- Ahun:
(23) old village with remains of a medieval monastery.
- Aubusson
(23) : capital of the tapestry
industry, tapestry museums, tapestry workshops, old town.
- Bourganeuf
(23) Attractive old town, founded in mediaeval times by the Knights
Hospitaller (Order of St John of Jerusalem).
- Argentat:
(19) Delightful small town on the Dordogne. Water sports.
- Beaulieu
sur Dordogne:(19) Fine romanesque church, with remarkable
carved tympanum
- Brive
la Gaillarde.(19) Attractive old city centre.
- Collonges
la Rouge, Curemonte and Turenne (19); reputedly three of
the prettiest villages in France. Collonges la Rouge is so known on
account of the red sandstone used in the buildings.
- The
Dordogne valley;(19) the upper Dordogne valley is a place
for water sports (sailing on the artificial lakes, kayaking where the
river flows freely).
- Parc
Naturel Régional de Millevaches: (19, 23) upland area -
outdoor activities, hiking, riding, nature.
- Treignac-sur-Vézère:
(19) attactive village in the upper valley of the Vézère, north of
Tulle. Granite built houses with slate roofs. The Vézère offers good
opportunities for kayaking.
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