DISTILLER OF SENSATIONS AMUS-EUM YOURSELVES! You’ve not seen cultural sites like these before! Keep tapping your foot... Blues, classical, rock, electro… festivals to A stimulating be consumed without moderation heritage Top 10 family activities An explosive mixture! ON AIME ! VISITS BY NATHALIE ! VERALLIA VISIT History of Cognac gourmet VISIt More information about Visits by Nathalie on the agenda of our website destination-cognac.com Reservations at +33 (0)05 45 82 10 71 photo rally COGNAC TOURISME Want to get away? “Cognac Tourisme”, the incoming tour operator of the Tourist Office, offers a year-round range of tailor-made breaks and theme days in the Cognac area for all budgets: cognac house visits, heritage, river trips, gastronomy, workshops... For us, nothing is impossible! For you, we promise an exceptional experience! 29 16, Rue du XIV Juillet - 16 100 COGNAC • +33 (0)5 45 82 10 71 [email protected] VISITS AND HERITAGE GUIDE VISITS AND HERITAGE 02 02 04 CONT Visits Frieze ENTS by Nathalie chronological 06 08 Discover Amus-eum the territory! YOURSELVES ! 11 12 In the A stimulating blessèd times heritage of the abbeys 14 16 Map of our region Enjoy life Destination Cognac in a château ! 20 22 On Creativity Cognac and recreation 23 26 Cultural Top diversity family activities VISITS AND HERITAGE GUIDE VISITS AND HERITAGE 03 Frieze chronological MIDDLE AGES 1th century ANTIQUITY • Construction of the Château de First vines planted and creation of Bouteville around the year 1000 the first great highways • 1st mention of the town of Cognac (Via Agrippa, Chemin Boisné …) (Conniacum) in 1030 • Development of the salt trade LOWER CRETACEOUS along the Charente PERIOD 11th to 13th centuries -130 million years ago • Romanesque churches are built all • Dinosaurs at Angeac-Charente over the region 14th and 15th centuries • The Hundred Years War (1337-1453) – a disastrous period for the region, successively English and French NEOLITHIC PERIOD RENAISSANCE • Construction of several dolmens End of the 15th century in our region • Birth of François 1st in the Château de Cognac in 1494 King of France from 1515 to 1547 16th century • “Coup de Jarnac” - In 1547, during a duel, Guy de Chabot (Baron de Jarnac) slashed the calf of his adversary, the lord of La Châtaigneraie with a blow of his sword. This very adroit “coup” was fatal to the latter • Battle of Jarnac - In 1569, victory over the Protestant troops. The Prince de Condé was murdered after surrendering • Discovery of Pineau des Charentes in 1589 VISITS AND HERITAGE GUIDE VISITS AND HERITAGE 04 17TH AND 18TH CENTURY 20ST CENTURY • Cognac is now exported in bottles • Birth of François Mitterrand 17th century in 1916 at Jarnac – • Invention of double distillation President of France from • Creation of the first cognac trading house: 1981 to 1995 Maison AUGIER in 1643 • Creation of the first “charentaises”(slippers) • Commercialisation of Pineau des Charentes in 1921 th 18 century • Cognac Tourist Office opens in • Development of the cognac trade and 1924 establishment of the great cognac trading • The regional appellations (“crus”) houses: MARTELL (1715), REMY-MARTIN are identified in 1938 (1726), DELAMAIN et HINE (1763), HENNESSY (1765) et OTARD (1795) 19TH CENTURY 21ST CENTURY • Decline of river-based trade with the opening • Segonzac is the first French of the Angoulême-Saintes railway in 1867 municipality to obtain the label • Phylloxera crisis between 1875 and 1895 “Cittaslow” in 2010 • Birth of Jean Monnet (“Father of Europe”) in 1888 • First semi-automatic bottling machine in 1898 • Cognac acquires the label “Ville d’Art et d’Histoire” in 2012 VISITS AND HERITAGE GUIDE VISITS AND HERITAGE ALCOHOL ABUSE IS DANGEROUS FOR YOUR HEALTH - DRINK RESPONSIBLY. 05 Discover THE TERRITORY ! WALKS IN COGNAC ! “King’s Walk” (Le Parcours du Roy) and “Belle époque Walk” bring to life the architectural heritage of the ancient centre of Cognac. The former takes you back to the beginnings of eaux- de-vie (17th and 18th centuries); the latter, with a visit to the essential Place François I, th WE is an invitation to return to the 19 century. LOVE Circuits available at the Cognac Tourist Office. 16, Rue du XIV Juillet - 16 100 COGNAC Cognac Jarnac La Charente DID YOU KNOW? Bourg-Charente Bassac The suffix -ac at the end of a place name comes from the Latin -acum and originally from the Gallic -acos and it St-Simon means an owner’s estate. WE LOVE Graves- St-Amant St-Même Vibrac les-Carrières IT’S WORTH St-Simeux SEEING ! Segonzac Châteauneuf- sur-Charente SEGONZAC, STEP BY STEP... St-Preuil Bouteville St-Fort- This village contains a number of stones which, through their sculpture and arrangement, reveal 7 metres long, 2.20 metres sur-le-Né historical upheavals, slices of life and the needs Lignières- high, 4.70 metres wide and of past eras. Nose in the air, the eye on the a table weighing more than lookout find all these small details that tell the Sonneville 40 tonnes, the dolmen of past and the present. Saint-Fort-sur-le-Né has been Circuits available majestically enthroned in the at the Tourist Information Office VISITS AND HERITAGE GUIDE VISITS AND HERITAGE middle of the vineyard for Le Né more than five thousand years. 1, Rue Pierre Viala - 16 130 SEGONZAC 06 When you’re out and about, do spend some time in our atypical little villages and be surprised by their authenticity. WE LOVE JARNAC HISTORIC TRACK ! This 40-minute tour allows you to discover the architectural and historical curiosities of the town of Jarnac. Circuits available at the Tourist Information Office 1, Avenue Carnot - 16 200 MAINXE-GONDEVILLE Cognac Jarnac La Charente Bourg-Charente Bassac St-Simon Graves- St-Amant St-Même Vibrac les-Carrières St-Simeux Segonzac Châteauneuf- sur-Charente WE LOVE St-Preuil Bouteville St-Fort- sur-le-Né Lignières- WALK IN CHATEAUNEUF ! Sonneville Discover at your own pace of Chateauneuf-sur-Charente and discover the main monuments and points of interest Circuits available at the Tourist Information Office 2, Rue du Général Leclerc - 16 120 CHATEAUNEUF/CHARENTE Le GUIDE VISITS AND HERITAGE Né 07 Amus-eum YOURSELVES! Musée des arts du Cognac ESPACE DÉCOUVERTE EN PAYS DE COGNAC Interpretation centre showing the heritage and environmental resources of western Charente. Travel back to the heart of our history and discover all the attractions of the area: the river Charente, Romanesque art and of course the story of François I. 1 Place de la Salle Verte - 16 100 COGNAC Thanks to a modern, fun presentation linking multimedia, +33 (0)5 45 36 03 65 - www.espace-decouverte. soundscape and olfactory ambiances, the visitor will discover fr the mysteries of cognac production. 1 20, Place de la Salle Verte - 16 100 COGNAC VIRTUAL TRAVELERS +33 (0)5 45 36 21 10 - www.musees-cognac.fr 6 experiences to travel on the Lower Cretaceous Destination in the 19th century thanks to virtual reality helmets. MUSÉE D’ART ET D’HISTOIRE Situated in the former Dupuy-d’Angeac townhouse, the museum is home to amazing collections on the history of the Cognac region: archaeology, popular traditions, arts and crafts... and a fine art collection including Art Nouveau glasswork as well as paintings by Italian, Flemish and French masters - the Charentais artists are given the place of honour! 1 48, Boulevard Denfert-Rochereau - 16 100 COGNAC +33 (0)5 45 32 07 25 - www.musees-cognac.fr La fondation Martell Place of all contemporary creations, the Fondation Martell continues to reinvent itself through a cross-disciplinary program and the progressive transformation of its spaces. The Fondation d’entreprise Martell aims to become a new cultural destination. This new center of innovation and culture, anchored in the territory, will become an engine for growth, development and sustainable development of the department and the Nouvelle-Aquitaine Region. 1 16, Avenue Paul Firino Martell 16 100 COGNAC www.fondationdentreprisemartell.com VISITS AND HERITAGE GUIDE VISITS AND HERITAGE 08 Musée des Arts et des Traditions The museum traces the life of an 18th century farm- labourer and the development of the municipality over time. The display of old tools for the various trades La petite maison du lin (blacksmith, cooper, clog maker, winemaker) takes the visitor deep in the past. Reconstitution of a Charentais weaver’s th 4 3, Place André Hitier - 16 130 SALLES D’ANGLES house in the 19 century. +33 (0)5 45 83 71 13 Discover weaving, spinning and bobbin sallesdangles.com/le-musee-des-arts-et-des-traditions/ lace. Exhibition on the history of flax, its cultivation and transformation from plant to yarn. Guided visit of the village on request. Weaving, spinning and bobbin lace MAISON NATALE workshop on request. DE FRANÇOIS MITTERRAND 5 Ferme La Charmille - 16 130 LIGNIÈRES- SONNEVILLE Discover the childhood of +33(0)5 45 91 60 83 (President) François Mitterrand www.petitemaisondulin.fr through a visit to the living rooms of his home and artefacts preserved by four generations. The visit ends with a stroll in the garden. 2 22, Rue Abel Guy - 16 200 JARNAC +33 (0)5 45 35 46 08 www.maison-natale-francois -mitterrand.org Musée François Mitterrand The museum is housed in a former cognac winery and has two rooms: MUSÉE DE LA COIFFE in the first are preserved a large number of “presidential” objects The headdress museum displays a collection of headdresses - works of art gifted to the former from all over the Charente that demonstrate 19th century president during his 14 years in regional identity. power. In the second room can be Visitors can discover the delicate embroidery or the seen models of all the great public remarkable pressing that gave the particular shapes to the works he inspired from 1981-1995.