The museums of Angoulême

Housed in the former bishop's palace, an elegant Renaissance and classical building adjoining Saint-Pierre cathedral, the Musée d'Angoulême is the city's encyclopaedic museum. Its collections span three main areas and occupy several rooms over two floors, for a circuit of around two hours.

The archaeology department is one of the region's most remarkable. It presents finds ranging from the Pleistocene — including lithic tools from Neanderthal man discovered in Charente caves — to the Gallo-Roman and Merovingian periods. The collection of ceramics, jewellery and coins illustrates the wealth of the city of Iculisma in late antiquity, while a section devoted to the medieval period presents ashlar elements and sculptures from the old Romanesque cathedral.

The fine arts section brings together paintings and sculptures from the 15th to the 20th century, with an emphasis on the French school. The collection includes Flemish and Dutch canvases, several academic 19th-century works representing Charentais landscapes and local historical scenes, as well as some examples of modernism. Of particular note are portraits of notable Angoumois figures, which form a precious testimony to the city's social history.

The third collection, and perhaps the most singular, is that of African and Oceanic art. Built up through donations and acquisitions since the 19th century, it brings together several hundred pieces: masks, figurines, ritual objects and body ornaments from various regions of sub-Saharan Africa, as well as objects from Melanesia and Polynesia. This collection, exceptionally rare for a city of this size, is the subject of ongoing documentation and contextualisation work.

Descending towards the banks of the Charente, one discovers the Musée du Papier 'Le Nil', installed in the buildings of the former Bardou-Le Nil factory, which specialised in manufacturing cigarette paper. The company, founded in the 19th century, was one of the region's most important and employed several hundred workers. Its brick-and-stone buildings along the river have been listed and converted to house this museum devoted to the history of the Charentais paper industry.

The museum traces the history of paper-making in the Charente, an industry that for several centuries was one of the region's main economic activities. 19th-century paper machines, traditional trade tools, samples of old papers and exceptional photographic documentation form the permanent collection. Temporary exhibitions centred on paper, printing and graphic arts regularly complement the offering. Entry is free, making it an unmissable stop for walkers along the Charente banks.