2h20 from Paris by TGV, Angoulême is a city still unknown but which has a very rich history and illustrious characters. Perched on its plateau, it is nicknamed the balcony of the Southwest. Its comic book festival, which will celebrate its 50th edition between January 26 and 29, 2023, and the Magelis Center make it the world capital of the image. The main street of the city even bears the name of Hergé. A perfect opportunity to discover this charming city.
Angoulême, a thousand-year-old history
Occupied by the Romans since Antiquity, Charles the Bald erected the city into a county in the 9th century, and 700 years later, the good François I, generous with his native region, made it a duchy to offer it to Louise de Savoie, his mother. But the legal birth of Angoulême was signed on May 18, 1204 by John the Landless, king of England, who married after having kidnapped Isabelle Taillefer. An episode long forgotten but recently rehabilitated. Since the Middle Ages, the capital of the province of Angoumois had become famous for the manufacture of paper. A tradition that has endured, despite the departure of Protestant artisans after 1685. Balzac even took an Angoumois paper maker as the hero of his novel Lost Illusions. The New York square reminds us that the navigator Verazzano first gave the name of New-Angouleme to what was to become the city of skyscrapers. Angoulême is now the prefecture of the Charente and is a quiet provincial town. It is a quiet city, bathed in light, full of history and whose houses are made of this beautiful white stone.
Splendid ramparts
The city of Angoulême, located in the heart of a plateau on a rocky spur, had its first wall in the 3rd century. During the Middle Ages, the ramparts were developed, rebuilt and maintained until the end of the 17th century. In the 18th century, a means of defending the city was no longer necessary and the ramparts were modified, the gates removed and the population moved into the immediate vicinity of the city. Today, the ramparts are an undeniable tourist attraction, old stones witnessing the history of Angoulême and offering an exceptional panorama of the surrounding countryside, bordered to the north by the river Charente. The Saint-Pierre cathedral is placed on the rocky spur. Like a lighthouse, this beautiful Romanesque cathedral watches over the city, it is a landmark for all. In this same place, since the beginning of the Middle Ages, several religious buildings have stood and been destroyed.
From paper to comics..
If the museums of Angoulême, which retrace the history of the department, or the Regional Fund of Contemporary Art (FRAC), are very interesting visits when you put your bags in the city, Angoulême is especially known for the manufacture of paper and its comic book festival. Therefore, two museums are not to be missed. The Musée du Papier - Le Nil is located in the former Joseph Bardou le Nil paper mills, closed in 1972. The museum overlooks the Charente and bears witness to the intense industrial activity that took place around the river. It offers a permanent exhibition that allows visitors to discover the workings of this activity (the exhibition is organized around the wheels and valves where the water still flows), its history, its socio-economic repercussions, but also the Charente, a natural power necessary for the manufacture of paper.
The Cité internationale de la bande dessinée et de l'image, symbol of the image capital, is a sanctuary for comics. You will find in particular a library of the comic strip (subject to subscription, the various publics can reach the exposures and make their choice among a collection of more than 46 000 albums and documentaries), but also the bookshop of the comic strip and the image as well as the international residence of artists (the house of the authors) which supports the creation in the field of the comic strip and the animated image. Discover also the movie theaters classified "Art et Essai". The Cité also hosts the Comic Strip Museum, located on the right bank of the Charente, which has been able to redeploy all of its permanent collections on a surface of about 1,300m2, benefiting from a sober and elegant scenography that enhances the original works. The museum has thousands of plates and prints from the origins of comics to the present day: French comics, US comics and Japanese manga... One of the richest collections in Europe. The museum organizes visits throughout the year for young and old. The rules of conservation of works on paper oblige the Comic Strip Museum to present its original plates no more than three months in a row. Thus, with three annual "rotations", the regular and curious visitor will be able to discover nine completely different museums in three years. An unmissable visit, especially if you come for the international festival.
Boards and bubbles in celebration for the comic book festival
Since 1974, at the end of January (from Thursday, January 26 to Sunday, January 29 this year), Angoulême has been on time for the International Comics Festival (FIBD). For four days, the "city that lives in its images" emerges from its mild winter torpor and welcomes the world's greatest comic book artists and scriptwriters and tens of thousands of fans. This fair, which celebrates its 50th edition in 2023, has allowed the prefecture of Charente to become the world capital of comics and images. Today, Angoulême is home to several schools that train future professionals in comics, animation, audiovisual, special effects, video games, graphic arts and applied arts, and about fifty companies related to the image industry have settled in Charente. And every year, the greatest talents of the discipline come to celebrate. So, get your diaries ready!
Useful information
When to visit? You can visit Angoulême all year round, but to attend the 50th International Comics Festival, go from Thursday 26 to Sunday 29 January 2023.
How to get there. By train, by plane (Angoulême-Cognac international airport) or by car, everything is possible.
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