The best traffic-free bike rides around Annezay

It is an absolutely beautiful village.

Small town with a special charm along the Charente.

Located on a rocky spur overlooking the Charente, Taillebourg has one of the oldest castles in the province of Saintonge. It was also one of the most important in the region in the Middle Ages. This stronghold will allow the city to assert its power and prosper thanks to its port and control of trade throughout the Middle Ages. According to a chronicler, the Château de Taillebourg hosted the wedding night of Louis, future king of France under the name Louis VII, with Duchess Eleanor of Aquitaine. Louis IX (future Saint Louis) made the castle his fortress to launch the attack against the King of England, Henry III. This victorious battle of July 21, 1242 became famous and was represented several centuries later by Delacroix, whose painting can be seen in the Battles gallery at the Palace of Versailles. The castle which had endured all the sieges during the Hundred Years' War and the Wars of Religion was taken and destroyed during the Fronde in 1652. During the Revolution, it was sold in lots as national property. Having suffered from lack of maintenance, the building was the victim of a fire in 1822 and was largely destroyed. All that remains now are the ruins with the ramparts and a tower standing like an emaciated being. It now houses a park which is a haven of peace. To access it from the banks of the Charente, you have to take a small detour through the town.

In the Middle Ages, Tonnay-Boutonne was a fortified town of which today only one vestige remains: the Porte Saint-Pierre, named after the parish. Two other gates also existed, and the small city also had a port, a lock and a mill. At the heart of the ramparts stood a keep 20m high and 13m side with walls 3m thick. But it was razed in 1839 by the last owner who sold the stones to pay his debts, and the rubble was spread all around raising the level of the streets by 1.50 to 2m and filling the cellars of the village.

The Saint-Savinien church is a Romanesque style building built between the 12th and 13th centuries. The current sanctuary succeeds an ancient priory, cited in a charter of 1039, of which no vestige remains. The adjoining square is pleasantly decorated with statutes representing the apostles.

Labeled “Small town of character”, but also “Village of stones and water” (an expression which describes this village very well), Saint-Savinien-sur-Charente is a small picturesque village in the Saintonge Romane nestled in a meander of the Charente, nestled between the river and a limestone cliff. The town is remarkable for its houses built right on the water on the banks of the Charente, its district of troglodyte dwellings in the heights, some of which date back to the Gallo-Roman era, its river port, its old buildings and its churches, including the magnificent Romanesque church dating from the 13th century.

The Porte Saint-Pierre is a well-preserved city gate from the 14th century.

In this small town, you can admire the Saint-Pierre gate dating from the Middle Ages. Alongside the buildings that bear witness to the importance of the city over the centuries, Tonnay-Boutonne has remarkable natural spaces. The banks of the Boutonne are an invitation to walk and relax.