Angoulême is a town and commune in southwestern France, préfecture (capital city) of the Charente département.
GeographyAngoulême is located 134 km or 83 miles N.N.E. of Bordeaux on the railway between Bordeaux and Poitiers.
The town proper occupies an elevated promontory, washed on the north by the Charente and on the south and west by the Anguienne, a small tributary of that river. The more important of the suburbs lie towards the east, where the promontory joins the main plateau, of which it forms the north-western extremity.
SightsIn place of its ancient fortifications, Angoulême is encircled by boulevards known as the Remparts, from which fine views may be obtained in all directions. Within the town the streets are often dark and narrow, and, apart from the cathedral and the hôtel de ville, the architecture is of little interest.
The cathedral of St. Pierre, a church in the Byzantine-Romanesque style, dates from the 11th and 12th centuries, but has undergone frequent restoration, and was partly rebuilt in the latter half of the 18th century by the architect Paul Abadie. The façade, flanked by two towers with cupolas, is decorated with arcades filled in with statuary and sculpture, the whole representing the Last Judgment. The crossing is surmounted by a dome, and the extremity of the north transept by a fine square tower over 160 ft. high.
The hôtel de ville, also by Abadie, is a handsome modern structure, but preserves two towers of the chateau of the counts of Angoulême, on the site of which it is built. It contains museums of paintings and archaeology. [Hotel de Ville:[1]
EconomyAngoulême is a centre of the paper-making industry, with which the town has been connected since the 14th century. Most of the mills are situated on the banks of the watercourses in the neighbourhood of the town. The subsidiary industries, such as the manufacture of machinery and wire fabric, are of considerable importance. Iron and copper founding, brewing, tanning, and the manufacture of gunpowder, confectionery, heavy iron goods, gloves, boots and shoes and cotton goods are also carried on. Commerce is carried on in wine, brandy and building-stone.
TransportationThe main line of the Orléans railway passes through a tunnel beneath the town.
Angoulême (Brie-Champniers) airport is situated 9.5km NE of the city centre in Champniers, just off the N10. Currently there are only flights to Lyon, however the airport is undergoing improvement, with the runway being extended 50 metres to be able to take a Boeing 737. The terminal is having a new restaurant and shops added in order to greet flights from the UK budget airlines in February 2007. [2]
MiscellaneousThe famous Angoulême International Comics Festival takes place every year in January.
Angoulême is the seat of a bishop, a prefect, and a court of assizes. Its public institutions include tribunals of first instance and of commerce, a council of trade-arbitrators, a chamber of commerce and a branch of the Bank of France. It also has a lycée, training-colleges, a school of artillery, a library and several learned societies.
BirthsAngoulême was the birthplace of:
Angoulême is twinned with:
