Jardin botanique de l'Evêché, Botanical garden near Cathedral Saint-Etienne, Limoges, France

The Jardin botanique de l'Evêché is a botanical garden behind Limoges Cathedral and the former bishop's palace, now the Musée des Beaux-Arts. It covers about five hectares on several terraces above the Vienne, with a French garden of geometric beds and a botanical garden divided into systematic, thematic and regional sections. A tepee of vertical wooden slats and flat trellises stand among low rectangular hedges.

The garden started in the 18th century as a private space for the bishops and opened to everyone in 1888. A major renovation in the 1970s gave it the form we see today.

The garden displays plants native to the Limousin region, including medicinal herbs and plants once used in local trades. Different sections tell the story of how people here have worked with plants over many generations.

The garden sits in the old town and is free to visit every day, with pathways at different levels. The stairs and paths can be steep, so good walking shoes are a good idea.

The botanical garden created in the 1950s for pharmacy students lies below the chapel of the former seminary, on the site of the old Benedictine monastery. It reconstructs regional habitats: oak and hornbeam woodland, beech grove, heather moor, wetland and peat bog. A kiosk stands in this section, and the underground passages of the Abbey of La Règle are reached from here.