Chasseneuil-sur-Bonnieure via the Château de la Rochefoucauld – loop

02:20

49.8km

500m

Road cycling

Moderate road ride. Good fitness required. Mostly well-paved surfaces and easy to ride. The starting point of the route is right next to a parking lot.

Last updated: June 7, 2024

Waypoints

Start point

Parking

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13.0 km

La Rochefoucauld Castle Bridge

Highlight • Castle

Appearing in 1019 with Foucauld, lord of La Roche, the La Rochefoucauld family has long been considered a branch of the Lusignan, due to the similarity of their arms. It seems, in reality, that Foucauld was a close relative of the Viscount of Limoges, descendant of a Grand of the court of Charlemagne. Only four other families in France (including that of the Capetians) can claim such seniority.

The history of the castle is inseparable from the history of the La Rochefoucauld family which, itself, is part of the political life of its time, century after century. The castle of La Rochefoucauld provides a remarkable illustration of the interweaving of politics and architecture through the life of a family which has continuously owned the castle since Fucaldus laid the first fortification around 980. With the history of the La Rochefoucauld family, the use of architecture for social and political purposes finds one of its most spectacular manifestations. This earned it the justified title of “pearl of Angoumois”.

The castle is an anthology of seven centuries of architecture and the home of the La Rochefoucauld family, still present for over a thousand years.

To see: the monumental Renaissance staircase (108 steps!), the boudoir of Marguerite de Valois, the kitchens dug into the karst, the state rooms, guards, the 18th century libraries, the main courtyard and its galleries from the 16th.

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44.6 km

Resistance Memorial

Highlight • Historical Site

Memorial built in memory of the 1465 martyrs of the Resistance and the fighters of Charente and Charente-Maritime who fell on the battlefield.
This memorial is also a national necropolis where 2,255 graves of soldiers and resistance fighters are buried.

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