"La Cour du Temple" : historical background.

People think wrongly that the origin of the name : "La Cour du Temple" comes from the fact that knights from the military and religious Order of the Templars used to live in this residence. But this is a mistake. The temple in question simply refers to God's temple for the church St Michel des Lions is close by. The fact that the "Rue du Temple" is not far from here too, makes things confused. The nameof this street dates from the 12th century and comes from the Templar Order which received an unearned income coming from buildings that it owned in this street and in the neighbourhood.

That former private mansion which belonged to the MALEDEN DE SAVIGNAC whose coat of arms can still be seen on one of the inner wall, is constituted of three different bodies. It is estimated that they were built between the 16th and the 17th century.
The stone-built staircase which is the oldest part of the mansion, dates from the 16th century and was built on the walls at the back of the castle of LIMOGES.
The renovation work allowed to discover the famous St André's crosses, a mantelpiece and half-timberongs which had been covered under Turgot for insulation reasons.
Mr de La Périère, who belonged to Limoges nobility owned this private mansion in 1775.

The "Cour du Temple" now belongs to a former architect who gave its current aspect. This work, which had begun in 1978, lasted for about 2 years. The paving of the "Cour du Temple" has a specificity. A part of it was made with a special stone named "Gassette" or "Gazette", which was used in the od pottery kilns of Limoges.

"La Cour du Temple" now belongs to the historical and national patrimony and is one of the best place for tourism in Limoges.