Two historians and a geographer paint the portrait of Haute-Vienne, a department to be rediscovered, in a richly illustrated book.
Water, trees, granite and men. Nature and heritage, built and know-how. It is a portrait of a large part of Haute-Vienne* that David Glomot, Philippe Grandcoing and Hélène Lafaye paint in Limoges and the country of Vienne, Insights into a heritage.
The book was written more than 10 years ago*, but Haute-Vienne has not changed much since then (see box). The three authors – two historians and a geographer – take us through Val de Vienne, Limoges or on the road to Compostela, while talking about the riches of the department.
Castles, works of art, religious buildings, remarkable houses appear in this work. Dozens of photos, old or recent, plans and engravings remind us that Haute-Vienne has rare heritage elements such as the Veyrac dovecote bridge, unique in France, the twisted columns of the main courtyard of the Château de Rochechouart, or the lantern of the dead of Coussac-Bonneval.
Limoges has its chapter, which recalls the history of its beginnings on the banks of Vienne, these two hearts of the future unique city of Limoges which were the Cité and the Château, the history of the Ponts district, that of Limoges the red and of the porcelain adventure. Here again, old photos like this view of Limoges from the train, dating from 1899, or these engravings from the end of the 19th century give another image of the rue du Pont-Saint-Etienne and the banks of Vienne.
The work is a summary of everything that makes Haute-Vienne yesterday and today. Its know-how, whether in the arts of fire, glovemaking or stationery, its mills, whether for paper or porcelain paste, its mountains (of Blond and Ambazac) which do not are not mountains, they all form the identity of Haute-Vienne.
For those who think that Haute-Vienne is an uninteresting territory, Limoges and the country of Vienne, Regards sur une patrimoine remind us that this is a department with real natural wealth and real tourist attractions, that this either in the countryside or in the neighborhoods or medieval towns of cities.
The authors excluded from their subject the north of the department of Haute-Vienne, historically belonging to Marche, with “very different heritages”.
The book, released for the first time in 2012, is available in bookstores at the public price of €15. The book.
Limoges and the country of Vienne, by David Glomot, Philippe Grandcoing and Hélène Lafaye, Loubatières editions, 127 pages, 15 euros.
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The TGV expected in 2017 “Even if the TGV should only arrive in 2017, Limoges-Bellegarde airport connects the city to the national, but above all European, transport network,” wrote the authors ofLimoges and the Vienne region
. If we want to take the TGV, in 2024, we will have to take it elsewhere than in Haute-Vienne, where it has never arrived. But with this exception, the book is up to date.
