Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

Limoges Town Hall, located at 1 Square Jacques Chirac (formerly Léon-Betoulle Square), was inaugurated on 14 July 1883 to replace a temporary municipal building installed on Turgot Street. Its construction was made possible thanks to the legacy of Alfred Fournier, a rich limo annuitant who died without heir in 1875, a bust of which now adorns the entrance hall. The building, designed by architect Charles-Alfred Leclerc (Grand Prix de Rome), rises on the site of the ancient city forum. Its eclectic style, combining Renaissance and Louis XIII, is distinguished by a facade adorned with a clock, the coat of arms of Limoges, and ceramic medallions representing four local figures: Léonard Limosin, Henri François d'Aguesseau, Vergniaud and Jourdan.

Inside, the honorary staircase is embellished by two marouflé canvases by Henri-Paul Motte, illustrating the union of Limousin with France (1884) and the workshop by Léonard Limosin (1885). The fountain in front of the entrance, made between 1892 and 1893 in porcelain, bronze and granite, is the result of a collaboration between the art schools of Paris and Limoges, under the direction of Charles Genuys and Auguste Lœuvrier-de-Lajolais. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1975, the building underwent a renovation campaign in 2015, supported by a call for popular patronage.

During the Second World War, the city hall briefly welcomed the Belgian government into exile, fleeing the capitulation of King Leopold III. In 1940, Mayor Léon Betoulle organized a symbolic condemnation of this surrender, before the ministers won England via Sauveterre-de-Guyenne. In 2021, the municipality renamed the official address in Square Jacques Chirac, causing local controversy. The building remains today the seat of municipal institutions, headed by Emile-Roger Lombertie (LR) since 2014.

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