Museums in Limousin, France
Porcelain in Limoges, Tapestry in Aubusson & Nazi Massacre Village
May 24, 2007
The Limousin region of south-west central France is home to a series of interesting museums. For visitors and tourists into local artforms, the Musée National Adrien Dubouche in the city of Limoges is an excellent spot to get to grips with porcelain and ceramics, while the Musée Departemental de la Tapisserie in Aubusson explores the history of tapestry.
Those more into history should head to the tragic village of Oradour-sur-Glane, which played host to one of the most brutal Nazi massacres of the Second World War.
Museums in Limousin, France - Musée National Adrien Dubouche, Limoges, Limousin, France
Limoges is unquestionably the home of French porcelain, and although the city has got life to it courtesy of a large student population, most people come to Limoges for pottery, crockery, porcelain and enamelware.
To see the very best collection of ceramic art, travel to the Musée National Adrien Dubouche in Place Winston Churchill, Limoges. Well worth the entry fee, this museum hosts some of the finest works the city (and country) has ever produced.
Visitors heavily into their porcelain can also try out the Gallerie du Canal (on rue du Canal) and the Bernardaud Porcelain Factory (avenue Albert Thomas).
Other hot ticket attractions in Limoges include the the church of St-Pierre du Queyroix, the Gothic Cathédrale St-Etienne (St Stephen’s Cathedral) and the city’s botanical garden.
Museums in Limousin, France - Musée Departemental de la Tapisserie, Aubusson, Limousin, France
If Limoges is the ceramics capital of France, then Aubusson is its carpet centre. The weavers of the Creuse Valley have been highly prized since the 16th century. Where there are carpets, there are tapestries, and the Musée Departemental de la Tapisserie (Tapestry Museum) covers the history of the artform, marking changes down the ages and exploring various tapestry techniques. Visitors can also arrange visits to tapestry workshops through the Aubusson tourist office.
Museums in Limousin, France - Oradour-sur-Glane, Limousin, France
Not a museum in the traditional sense, this village is a must-see, purely to understand the senseless horrors and barbarism of World War II. On June 10th 1944, a detachment of the Nazi SS came to town and committed one of the most brutal massacres of the Second World War.
The men of Oradour-sur-Glane were forced into barns and then shot by the German soldiers while the women and children were herded into a church in which a bomb was detonated. Only six people survived as the Nazis tried to punish the villagers for hiding Jewish families, with 642 people dying in just one day.
The village has been left exactly how it was on that day, with no attempt to clean up the buildings blackened during the slaughter.
Also at the site is the Centre de la Mémoire, an exhibition which describes what Oradour-sur-Glane was like before the Nazi massacre and contains both testimonies from the survivors and confessions from the executioners.
