• History of Touvre
  • Mon beau village sur le haut de la colline

    This old village, at the top of a steep hill looks over the springs of the river from which it takes its name.

    JPG - 235.8 ko

    Touvre owes its existence to feudal squabbles. It was between 1040 and 1050 that the feudal castle was built by Guillaume 1st Taillefer, bishop of Angoulême. This castle gave birth to the church and to the neighbouring houses. The castle of Touvre came - almost immediately after its foundation - under the ownership of the Counts of Angoulême.
    A part of the lands and the rights of the feudal lords remained the property of the Bishops of Angoulême. These bore the title of barons of Touvre until the Revolution. Eralier, when in 1308 Angoumois passed to the crown of France, the castle of Touvre had become the property of the kings of France.

    Under the former regime, Touvre was a parish where the priest was also the perpetual vicar to the bishop.
    This parish belonged to the archpriest of Garat. A judge was appointed to Touvre under the authority of the royal provostship (military police) of Angoulême.
    After the revolution, Touvre was from 1790 till 1800 part of the canton of Dirac and since 1800 has been part of the second canton of Angoulême.

    Famous people

    Two famous figures are linked with Touvre, King François I and Ravaillac.

    During its history, the municipality saw crossing two symbolic characters :
    King François I was one. . He liked the river and came to go fishing regularly on the edges of Touvre.
    The other was Monsieur Ravaillac, the murderer of King Henri IV…

    Historical and tourist heritage of beautiful stones

    Touvre has preserved some historic buildings. In particular :

    The church Sainte-Madeleine - XIIth (open to the public)
    The manor house of the Fawning - the XVIIth end (usually closed, but open during Heritage Days)
    Several washhouses and the Fawning manor house