Attractions and Places To See around Genac-Bignac - Top 16

Former priory linked to Saint-Amand-de-Boixe, given to the abbey by Guillaume IV, count of Angoulême, before 1030. A campaign of works is attested in the 17th century and restorations in the 19th. The building has retained traces of its original 11th century architecture: drop walls of the nave crisscrossed with arches, intended to receive a light structure. The nave is under frame after having received a ceiling. Around 1120, the building increased with a bay under a bell tower, vaulted with a dome on horns carried by pillars with a cruciform core, flanked by columns with ball capitals and an apse. A north transept arm and its oriented apse, correspond to a third campaign of work (late 12th century?). The church underwent some transformations at the time of the Hundred Years' Wars: raising of the nave above the cornice and use of the bell tower (murderer with viewfinder).

Nestled between the Charente river and the Boixe forest, the former abbey has watched over the north of Angoumois for over a thousand years. Mentioned in 888, the abbey church was rebuilt in the 11th and 12th centuries, thanks to the generosity of the Counts of Angoulême. This building constitutes an inescapable testimony of the Charente Romanesque art. In the 13th century, a large fire destroyed the site, forcing the reconstruction of the choir of the church, which was not completed until the 16th century. Listed as a historical monument in 1840 on the initiative of Mérimée, this vast monument has always impressed with its mass and its refinement: artists such as Eugène Delacroix and Maurice Utrillo are not mistaken. Each year, more than 13,000 visitors come to discover and appreciate this building with such a rich history. The abbey site has also given rise to several archaeological excavations, enriching the historical and cultural interest of this high heritage site.

Of the castle of Montignac, located in the town of Montignac-Charente, in Charente, only the keep remains. It is built on a terrace overlooking the Charente. Of the enclosure, there remains the gate with portcullis with two round towers at the top of an escarpment, the western part of the enclosure and a round tower.

Church from the second half of the 12th century. It has a simple plan: a single nave of three bays, lit by narrow windows and covered since 1885 with a barrel vault; an avant-chancel surmounted by a dome on pendants and a bell tower; a choir covered with a 15th century ribbed vault ending in a flat apse.

The church of Saint-Denis in Vars, with the castle to the north, formed an episcopal complex of which the bishop was the lord. Although the church is not mentioned until 1110, the possession of this seigneury by the bishop is attested as early as the 1030s. Probably in connection with the building of the castle to the north, the very sober facade of the church has been altered: one can still distinguish traces of the old bell tower with two arches, in the upper part. The bell tower built on the south arm of the transept is therefore posterior. The apse has the particularity of having been raised in order to fortify it and to fit various defensive elements (heated room, bay windows with cushions, access to gateways, etc.)

On the route of Saint-Jacques de Compostelle, the fortified abbey remains an imposing building of Romanesque style that can be discovered from the high paths around the village. Possibility of visits to the abbey. A few shops nearby allow you to eat.