Rancogne

Rancogne is a southwestern French village with 198 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2011 ) in the department of Charente in the Poitou -Charentes.

Location

Rancogne lies about 110 meters above sea level. inst and about 250 meters west of the river Tardoire. 25 km ( driving distance ) separating it from the southwest town of Angoulême or about 6 kilometers from the northern capital of the canton of La Rochefoucauld. The nearby towns Pranzac and Bunzac are also worth seeing.

Demographics

In the first census in France in 1793, the city had 401 inhabitants; afterwards remained, the population stable.

Economy

The substantially Farming place had in the hamlet of La Forge in the 17th and 18th centuries several blast furnaces for the production of cannon; there were more than 300 workers employed in 1760. In the 19th century there were at the same place a grain and an oil mill, which were driven by the flow of Tardoire. Rancogne now lives mainly from agriculture, and viticulture. The place still belongs to the field of Bons Bois in the extreme east of the growing region of Cognac. Since the 1970s, the rental of apartments ( gîtes ) has been added as an important source of income of the village.

History

Little is known about the history of Rancogne, but already in the Bronze Age some of the karst caves were inhabited or were used as cult or burial sites, as can be proven based on ceramic finds. In the Middle Ages the town was settled; the inhabitants built a small church on a hill - possibly the former place was also there. In the 16th century, the present castle was built on the site of an earlier building.

Attractions

• The small Romanesque parish church of Saint -Pierre is located on a hill above the village. Western façade and the west tower date from the 19th century. The single nave interior is covered by a vault, which does not, however, likely to correspond to the original state. The apse has drawn a straight and windowless circuit and is separated from the nave by a choir arch.
• The Château de Rancogne is an imposing four-winged structure from the 16th century. The most striking component is a fortified tower ( donjon ) on a square ground plan in the southwest corner; above includes the tower with Machicolation and enclosed by a parapet wall platform with a small guard tower ( échauguette ). In the castle park is a dovecote. The whole area is privately owned, so that only a few photos are available.
• Parts of the - now also in private hands - building complex of La Forge were recognized in 1991 as a monument historique.