Cathédrale Saint-Étienne

The Cathédrale Saint-Étienne is the most impressive building in Limoges, a Gothic structure of considerable height and elegance that occupies the high ground of the Cité quarter above the Vienne river. The construction history spans over six centuries, giving the building an unusual layering: the choir and north portal from the 14th and 15th centuries are the work of the Limousin architect Mathieu Verdier, while the nave was completed only in 1888.

The north portal is exceptional — a Flamboyant Gothic doorway from around 1530, carved with extraordinary precision and still in excellent condition. Inside, the chancel has three large stained-glass windows from the 15th century that are among the finest surviving medieval glazing in southwest France. The bishop's garden behind the cathedral provides a quiet approach and a good exterior view of the building's full length.

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Construction of the cathedral began in 1273 and was not completed until 1888 — a process of 615 years. The long interruption between the 15th and 19th centuries means that the choir is pure High Gothic while the nave was completed by the neo-Gothic architects of the Third Republic. Despite this, the two sections read as a coherent whole inside, which is a minor architectural miracle.