Tourist attractions Cognac

Partly occupying the Perrin de Boussac residence (1567) on one side and abutting the 17C ramparts on the other, this resolutely contemporary facility houses a remarkable museum dedicated to cognac and its history. 1 200m 2 of exhibits provide a fasci..

Located in a pretty little valley to the southeast of Écoyeux, this abbey was founded by the Benedictines in the 12C. Its buildings have been extensively restorated over the last 30 years: note the vast chapter house (a dozen ogive vaults rest on a f..

The restored convent, which now houses various organisations, has a rib-vaulted room and a covered well in the middle of the cloister.

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Explore the equipment in the Lauberet Pavilion, owned by a co-operative society that belongs to several Charentais wine-growers.

Built in the 12 C it has been intensely renovated. You will observe its Romanesque facade, with a flamboyant rose window in its centre. The vaulted arch door, decorated with TRAVAUX DES MOIS and signs of the Zodiac, merits attention. Inside, a vast n..

The museum houses collections of art and popular culture (a rural house evoking the life of a Charentais wine grower around 1875), an ethnological gallery of cognac (with an illustrated history of this drink), and fine arts (fine glass-paste pieces b..

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This house, the oldest of the great names of Cognac, was founded by a native of Jersey, Jean Martell, who settled here in 1715. It features a bottling plant, stock and ageing rooms, and other rooms evoking the life of an entrepreneur in the early 18C..

The park, which belongs to the castle, was so large and the vegetation so thick that Louise de Savoie called it her Daedalus. Planted with oaks (some evergreen), on the banks of the Charente River, it extends along the axis of the castle.

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The main street of old Cognac follows a pleasantly irregular path flanked by 15C half-timbered houses, such as the House of the Lieutenancy. At the entrance to the street, just behind St Jacques Gate, is a Renaissance fountain.

The street is flanked by attractive 17C houses with restored facades.

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The name of the street recalls the Salt trade, a traditional business activity of Cognac. In the Renaissance style, it is very wide for its time and has kept its irregular paving and its 16C and 17C houses. At the end there is an attractive Renaissan..

This trading house will teach you about the history of cognac, its distillation, ageing process and blending. The cooper’s shop and storerooms precede the bottling room.

Richard Hennessy, a captain in the Irish regiments under Louis XV, arrived in Cognac in 1760. Tasting the local elixir, he found it very good and set himself up in the City. The storerooms stretch across both sides of the Charente and have been well ..

In the 15C this gate, flanked by two machicolated towers, watched over a bridge. The latter has since disappeared, but the gate still leads onto the Rue Grande.