Discover New Aquitaine

Since 2017, Limoges has been designated a UNESCO Creative City, and enthusiasts can visit the world’s largest collection of porcelain – 5,000 pieces – at the Adrien Dubouché National Museum. Even the city’s central market halls have been decked out in porcelain, and in partnership with the DRAC Aquitaine, the entire city is being adorned and ‘repaired’ with porcelain: works of urban art featuring ‘oven blue’ elements are popping up throughout the city centre. In 2022, Limoges will celebrate the 10th edition of Toques et Porcelaine, once again illustrating the close relationship between gastronomy and this other strong French heritage. It is a heritage that is inspiring a whole new generation of talented designers, craftspeople, artists and more. Just as agricultural products have their PGI (Protected Geographical Indication), Limoges porcelain has its GI (Geographical Indication),

an official mark of quality and identification. Only products entirely manufactured and decorated in Limoges and the Haute-Vienne region can bear this mark. A unique expertise, renowned throughout the world. The story began in 1768, when a deposit of kaolin (essential for porcelain manufacturing) was discovered in Saint-Yrieix, south-west of the city, which did not escape the attention of Turgot, then Intendant of Limousin. Three years later, the industry for this ‘white gold’ was growing rapidly and developed over the centuries with the advent of new technologies. Today, the town has only around ten factories (compared to 27 in the mid-19th century), employing over a thousand people and generating annual turnover of €120 million. 70% of production is exported, mainly to the United States.