Photo : JLPC / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Château d'Angoulême
The rocky promontory, 80 metres above the Charente and 60 metres above the Anguienne, was a strategic position, and the first fortress dates from the end of the Roman Empire. The rampart enclosing 27 hectares was maintained until the thirteenth century. From the tenth to the thirteenth century, the Counts of Angoulême, the Taillefer and then the Lusignan, strengthened the town's defences and enlarged them to include the Saint-Martial district. In 1308, on the death of Guy I de Lusignan, the county of Angoulême returned to the French crown. It was given to Louis d'Orléans, brother of King Charles VI, in 1394, then passed to his son Jean d'Orléans, grandfather of Marguerite d'Angoulême and of François I. Count Jean d'Angoulême magnificently enlarged the counts' castle on his return from English captivity in the mid-fifteenth century.
