We visited the town of Confolens in March 2023. It is located in the Charente department of Poitou-Charentes, to the north-east of Angouleme and north-west of La Rochefoucauld. It is an attractive town on the Vienne river, at its confluence with the Goire River, and surrounded by rolling pastoral countryside (the name Confolens comes originally from the word 'confluence'). Confolens is located on the old Roman road that led from Angoulême to Bourges. The city was divided in two by the Vienne, so each bank depended on a diocese, that of Poitiers for the western part and Limoges for the eastern part. The city played a strategic role in the Middle Ages to ensure the crossing of the Vienne, when it experienced real prosperity.
Because it lacks major transport links Confolens is perhaps not usually high on the tourist trail, but if you are in the region there are many places of interest to visit in the town and we loved it's authenticity and honesty, it's very naturally beautiful but it has it's shabby parts that all add to the experience of just wandering around it. We highly recommend a visit.
One of the highlights of the town is the 'Old Bridge, a 13th century granite bridge with ten arches (although significantly modified and repaired in the 18th century). Since the bridge also has good views both along the river-front with its trees and ancient houses and also across the old town to the church it is a good place to start your visit.
While here make sure you see the Fontaine de la Fontorse, an ancient spring at the end of the bridge. From the end of the fifteenth century, the Fontorse, fed by a spring located on the plateau, is mentioned in various documents. Located at the exit of the old bridge of Confolens, it is what gave its name to this district which marked the entrance to the diocese of Poitiers. In 1806 it was decided to rebuild it, as it no longer met the needs, the work was completed in 1809. In 1995 it was moved about one metre and its pelvis slightly modified. Built of granite, a double basin with fluted decoration rises from the basin. A cast-iron bollard is attached to it, it bears the façade of the city's coat of arms. In Confolens there is an oral custom: "To become a famous man in the region, it is essential to have drunk the water of the Fontorse and urinated in one's basin". From here the diocese of Poitiers can be explored.
Cross back over the bridge and the diocese of Limoges can be explored. The old town itself, centred around the Rue du Soleil, which will keep your attention, with a good number of beautiful 15th and 16th century colombage houses lining the streets up the hill, with the House of the Duc of Epernon and its sculptures as a particular highlight. In this house, in February 1619, the lords of the south of France met to prepare the deliverance of Queen Medici, held prisoner at the castle of Blois. Once a single block, the house is now in two parts. A large central pillar, square in cross-section, is continued by a vertical beam encompassing the floors and reaching the ridge of the roof. The two parts have four floors: the ground floor, the first and second floors, and the attic floor. On the right-hand side, each floor is separated from the next by a piece of wood that acts as a stringcourse. The left-hand side has two distinct aspects: the half-timbering and the stone façade. An inner courtyard at the back of the house connects the two parts. Inside, the left-hand side has a large room on the ground floor, covered with a ceiling with beams decorated with fleurs-de-lis. The two dining rooms on the first floor retain two fifteenth-century fireplaces.
The Church of Saint-Maxime has its origins in the 10th century although the church we see today is mainly from a 15th century rebuild except the arched stone entrance and rose window, which have been retained from a 13th century version. It is the octagonal spire of this church that dominates the skyline of Confolens.
The Church of Saint-Bartholomew is in a small park area a short distance north of the town centre. The church is partly 12th century and partly 15th century and retains some very interesting historic details such as the stone carvings above the door. The square tower seems rather too large for the building but otherwise it is interesting to see!
Notable sites as you explore Confolens include the old donjon (only partially standing and all that remains of the original castle of Confolens); a 13th century stone gateway that originally allowed access to the old town through the fortifications and the 17th century town hall.
After exploring the centre of the town, be sure to also follow the course of the River Goire a little way to see a small stone bridge, a traditional water mill, and some picturesque old stone houses.
7 сен 2024
