The new town hall, inaugurated in 1883, stands on the site of the old ancient forum. Its construction was made possible by the substantial legacy of Alfred Fournier, a wealthy landowner from Limoges who died without descendants on 24 July 1875. A sculpted bust of him adorns the entrance hall, placed in the centre of the grand staircase.
Before the inauguration of the new building, municipal services had been temporarily transferred to the Hôtel de la Bastide, located on Rue Turgot.
The town hall has been listed as a historic monument since 15 January 1975. In 2015, the municipality, in partnership with the Fondation du patrimoine, launched an appeal for popular patronage to finance the building's renovation work.
The building, designed by Charles-Alfred Leclerc, winner of the Grand Prix de Rome and architect of the palaces of Versailles and the Trianon, was inaugurated on July 14, 1883. The three buildings with a slate roof are dominated by a bell tower. The main façade combines Renaissance and Louis XIII styles. It features a clock supporting the coat of arms of Limoges, surrounded by two pediments on which appear two large allegories by Tony Noël, representing Goldsmithing and Enameling. Four ceramic medallions, the work of the Italian Giandomenico Facchina, who notably worked for the Petit Palais, the Basilica of the Sacré Cœur and the Basilica of Lourdes, containing the portraits of four famous Limoges residents: Léonard Limosin, Henri François d'Aguesseau, Pierre Victurnien Vergniaud and Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, are located on either side of the coat of arms. Inside, two oils on canvases mounted above the door by the French history painter Henri-Paul Motte (1846-1922) adorn the landing of the 1st floor of the main staircase: Past and Present: Union of Limousin to France by Henri IV (salon of 1884) and its counterpart L'atelier de Léonard Limosin (1885). In the middle of the square located in front of the entrance to the building is a porcelain, bronze and granite fountain built between 1892 and 1893. Initially planned for the Place de la République and wanted by Auguste Louvrier-de-Lajolais, director of the École nationale d'art décoratif de Limoges, it is the work of Charles Genuys, chief architect of the dome of the Invalides, and is the result of a collaboration between the schools of Paris and Limoges. The square has been named after Jacques Chirac since December 2019.
Translated by Google •
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