Introduction to Angouleme, France Angoulême

The cathedral city of ANGOULÊME used to be dominated by paper mills that employed thousands of workers and bolstered the city's prosperity. The industry collapsed in the 1980s, and today only a couple of small, specialized mills still function. Since then the economy has picked up again, especially the tourist industry, and it's now a moderately prosperous place.

In the past, however, the former capital of the Angoumois province was a much-coveted city, being heavily fought over during the fourteenth-century Anglo-French squabbles and again in the sixteenth century during the Wars of Religion, when it was a Protestant stronghold. After the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, a good proportion of its citizens – among them many of its skilled papermakers – emigrated to Holland, never to return.

Information by Rough Guides

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