gare Limoges Bénédictins

10 things that you probably don’t know about Limoges-Bénédictins train station

“One of the most beautiful stations in the world”. Limoges-Bénédictins train station, listed as a Historical Monument since 1975, labelled “20th-century Heritage, is incredibly eye-catching. Its neo-regional style blends together several architectural movements such as Art Nouveau and Art Deco. This year, 2019, it is celebrating its 90th anniversary, but do you really know it?

1. Its location

The ground which the station stands on was once occupied by a leprosarium (today place Maison Dieu). It was adjoined to the Benedictine monastery from which it takes its name.

2. The clock tower

Le campanile et le dôme de la gare de Limoges

This towering 67-metre high tower is taller than that of the Gare de Lyon in Paris. It embraces a clock with four faces linked together so all indicate the same time.

3. The clock

L’une des quatre horloges du campanile de la gare de Limoges

The clock comprises 4 faces featuring Roman numerals, except for the 4, written as IIII and not IV to pursue the clock’s stylistic harmony. Highly-original: the clocks are always 2 minutes ahead of time to ensure traveller punctuality!

4. Its nicknames

Like the Eiffel Tower, the criticized monument was given various nicknames: “thousand-legged giant”, “block of lard” and even “camel hump”.

5. The concourse

Le dôme et ses verrières

Beneath the concourse dome, each wall angle features an allegorical sculpture symbolizing one of the four French provinces served by the Paris-Orléans railway company: Limousin, Brittany, Touraine and Gascogne. Each is illustrated with its own emblems. Limousin is represented by a woman carrying a porcelain vase, ears of wheat, chestnuts and chestnut leaves.

6. Underground passages

les souterrains

Between 1942 and 1945, the station was occupied by German troops. The Germans used an underground passage, located under the railway tracks, as a passive defence shelter. The sign “Réservé à la Wehrmacht” (Wehrmacht only) is still visible.

7. Above the tracks

une gare au dessus des voies

Limoges station is rather unique in that it is built above the tracks and not along them like other stations. A 96 m by 70 m platform, laid perpendicularly, 7 metres above ten railway tracks. The project required over 10,000 m3 of concrete, 1,800 t of steel, 2,800 m3 of stone and 200 labourers.

8. 18 May 1929

The station was inaugurated on 2 July 1929 but the first train ticket was sold there at 6am on 18 May 1929. In 2019, Limoges-Bénédictins train station will blow out its 90 candles.

9. Cinematography

In 2008, Jean-Pierre Jeunet chose Limoges station to shoot the commercial for Chanel N°5 perfume: “Train de nuit”, starring French actress Audrey Tautou.

10. The fire

Dôme gare Limoges

Like Notre-Dame de Paris in 2019, Limoges station was almost destroyed by fire in 1998. The fire occurred in the dome which was being restored. It took over a year to rebuild it to its original design.

Bonus info

Did you know that Limoges train station has a song dedicated to it? “Limoges Opéra Rock”, the musical fresco, devotes a song to the station: “Limoges Bénédictins”.
Listen in, track 19

Tours of the station are organized by Limoges Tourist Office:
www.limoges-tourisme.com/
12 boulevard de Fleurus - 87000 Limoges
Telf. +33(0)5 55 34 46 87
info@limoges-tourisme.com

PRACTICAL INFO 

Office de Tourisme de Limoges, 12 boulevard de Fleurus, 87000 Limoges
+33(0)5 55 34 46 87

Limoges-Bénédictins train station  

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PRACTICAL INFO 

Office de Tourisme de Limoges, 12 boulevard de Fleurus, 87000 Limoges
+33(0)5 55 34 46 87

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Porcelain? We know all about it! It’s what makes Limoges live and breathe, and it gets around! An ancient tradition...

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Contact Hôtel Limoges - Hôtel des Deux Moulins

All year round, close to the historic centre and the third most beautiful train station in France, the Hotel Des Deux Moulins welcomes you in a warm and family atmosphere, in a quiet establishment with a lift and a modern decoration. For your evening stopover or your family getaway, our charming hotel in Limoges, entirely soundproofed, is ideally located and offers quality services to allow you to rest, work or enjoy in complete serenity. For more information about our 3 star hotel in Limoges with a very good quality-price ratio, please contact the reception open from 7am to 12pm and from 4pm to 9pm.

48 bis AVENUE GARIBALDI 87000 LIMOGES
- OT Limoges Métropole -
- OT Limoges Métropole -
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SPL Terres de Limousin

11 rue François Chénieux 87000 LIMOGES
- SPL Terres de Limousin -
- SPL Terres de Limousin -
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The University's Law School

The 17th-century hotel of La Bastide is devoted to the University's Law School. For its renovation in 1996, the architect Massimilio Fuksas associated the initial structure with a contemporary one, where two lecture halls seem to be hanging.

32 rue Turgot 87000 LIMOGES
- OT Limoges Métropole -
- OT Limoges Métropole -
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Musée national Adrien Dubouché, Cité de la Céramique - Sèvres & Limoges

The Musée national Adrien Dubouché boasts the world?s richest public collection of Limoges porcelain, as well as works representative of the major stages in the history of ceramics, from Antiquity to the present day - a total of 18,000 works, 5,000 of which are currently on display.

The tour is designed to follow a particularly fluid and didactic circular route, through spaces of different character, to avoid any monotony in the presentations.



The tour begins with the various stages of porcelain manufacture, then reveals the great moments in the history of ceramics from Antiquity to the present day, ending with a focus on Limoges porcelain.



To prepare for your visit or guide you through the collections, download the ?MNAD Limoges? visitor application, free on smartphone.

8 bis place Winston Churchill 87000 LIMOGES
Du 02/01/2025 au 31/12/2025
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Tèrra Aventura : Toqués de Porcelaine

This tour explores the history of porcelain, which set the pace for the town's development and made it famous the world over! The aim: find a QR code with a mystery word after solving all the riddles using the app on your smartphone, and above all find a box filled with poizs.

Musée Adrien Dubouché Musée Adrien Dubouché Place Winston Churchill 87000 LIMOGES
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De Limoges à Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat en écomobilité

To be completed in two or 3 days, the route on the GR®4 and 654 variants, then on the main itineraries between Limoges and Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat, will take you from Porcelaine to the land of cattle breeding and... raymond Poulidor!
The landscapes are varied, from the Vienne valley to plateaus and mountains approaching 400 m in altitude.
Limoges is well worth a visit, with its old quarters, its remarkable Benedictine railway station and its old bridges. The town of Saint-Léonard-de-Noblat (collegiate church and ecomuseums) is an interesting stopover on the way to Santiago de Compostela. Along the way, Saint-Just-le-Martel also offers services, shops and accommodation.

This route is proposed by the Comité Régional de Randonnée Pédestre. Departing from a train station or TER bus stop, it allows you to join a walking or hiking itinerary, and take a stroll in ecomobility!

30 km
Medium
87000 LIMOGES
- FFRandonnée Nouvelle-Aquitaine -
- FFRandonnée Nouvelle-Aquitaine -