The best road cycling routes around Limoges

Beautiful church with atmospheric interior.

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.

very beautiful bridge to look at without moderation

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.

Saint-Pierre du Queyroix Church, a late Gothic hall church built in several stages from the 13th century to the beginning of the 16th century. It is topped with a bell tower and spire, typically Limousin, similar to those of Saint-Michel des Lions.

Good road, nice decent and climb up the other side!

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