The town of Angouleme is built on a rock headland dominating of 80 meters the valley of Charente. The city was girdled ramparts at the end of Bottom Romain Empire. Capital of the county of Taillefer, of Lusignan then of Valois, place of interminable conflicts during the wars of religion, important river port until the XIXeme century, capital of the Cartoon today, the city has multiple testimonys of the past.

With his tiled roofs and his southernmost light, one would almost compare it with an Italian city. Rich person of more than 2000 years of history, Angouleme especially will experience a strong development with the Middle Ages, as still testify the layout to it to the rampart supplemented in XIIIème century by two new enclosures, the sinuous streets, memory of compartmental medieval, but also the prestigious buildings like the cathedral Saint-Pierre, the old castle comtal (current town hall), the vault of Cordeliers, the Saint-Andrew church… It is during first half of XVIeme century, that the city becomes under the impulse of Valois, an important intellectual and artistic center. From this period, Angouleme preserved some monuments of Ière Renaissance French: the Saint-Simon house and the vestiges of the vault Saint-Gelais. Second half of XVIème century will be marked by the wars of religion which oppose the catholics to the Protestants. Angouleme, the catholic, is besieged twice by the troops huguenotes. The religious monuments of the city, suffer serious damage then.
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If the XVIIIeme century will be the time of work of embellishment, the XIXeme century will correspond for the city to an intense period of urbanization: levelling of the ramparts, removal of the doors of city, installation of places, construction of civil monuments like the theater, markets or the town hall, and rebuilding of churches, (churches Saint-Cybard, Saint-Jacques, Saint-Ausone, Saint-Martial).