The Hunt for the Unicorn Tapestry and Other Cultural Treasures of Charente

Disappointment on the other hand for those who hoped to find the Chazelles stone in the base of the Statue of Liberty. A tradition shared by many towns in France (Cassis, Ruoms, Damparis…). Actually, the granite blocks came from the quarries in Beattie, Connecticut, as explained by Connecticut History, a state-sponsored fund dedicated to the humanities.

Ancient tapestry from the Château de Verteuil

Charente is also home to museums. The seven panels of the “The Hunt for the Unicorn” tapestry are on display in gallery 17 of the Cloister Museum, north of the city. This work, dated between 1455 and 1506, was bought in 1937 by the oil magnate, John Davison Rockefeller, a scion of the La Rochefoucauld family. Until then, she decorated the Château de Verteuil.

Another cultural icon: the letter from Giovanni da Verrazano to King Francis I, held at the Morgan library. The explorer announced that he had named his discovery ‘Angoleme’, referring to the “kingdom over which (François I) ruled in days of lesser fortune (before he was king, (count of Angoulême)”. He also named New York bay ‘Sainte-Marguerite’, in honor of the king’s sister… Marguerite de Valois. The original manuscript will be on public view from May to – Sept. It is precious and fragile, it is usually protected in the library reserves and can only be discussed by fax.

If Angoulême has disappeared, another ‘New’ Charentaise has followed. North of Manhattan Island, New Rochelle is home to 80,000 residents. It takes its name from its founders, Protestants from La Rochelle fleeing persecution after Louis XIV revoked the Edict of Nantes in 1685.

There is still a ubiquitous trace of the two Charentes: cognac. The spirit is displayed in the windows of liquor stores, on bus stops and on the signs of several bars. Hennessy even has a driveway named after him in the Bronx.