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Cognac

 
Dictionary: Co·gnac   (kôn'yăk', kŏn'-, kô-nyäk') pronunciation
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A city of western France on the Charente River north-northeast of Bordeaux. It is famous for its distilleries, which have manufactured and exported cognac since the 18th century. Population: 19,500.

 

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Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: cognac
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Brandy from the French departments of Charente and Charente-Maritime. Tracing its origin to the 17th century, cognac (named for the town of Cognac) is distilled from white wine in special pot stills (alembics) and aged in Limousin oak. Most cognacs spend from one and one-half to five years in wood, though rarer varieties may age much longer.

For more information on cognac, visit Britannica.com.

 
Columbia Encyclopedia: Cognac
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Cognac (kônyäk'), city (1990 pop. 19,932), Charente dept., W France, in Angoumois, on the Charente River. The French brandy to which Cognac gives its name has been manufactured and exported from the city since the 18th cent. The city was the birthplace of Francis I and was a Huguenot stronghold in the 16th cent.

Wikipedia: Cognac
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This article is about the city in France. For the drink, see Cognac (drink).
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Coordinates: 45°41′45″N 0°19′45″W / 45.69583333334°N 0.3291666667°W / 45.69583333334; -0.3291666667

Commune of Cognac
Cognac Town hall
Location
Cognac is located in France
Cognac
Administration
Country France
Region Poitou-Charentes
Department Charente
Arrondissement Cognac
Mayor Jérôme Mouhot
(2001–2008)
Statistics
Elevation 5–53 m (16–170 ft)
(avg. 27 m/89 ft)
Land area1 15.5 km2 (6.0 sq mi)
Population2 21,451  (estimated 2009[1])
 - Density 1,384 /km2 (3,580 /sq mi)
Miscellaneous
INSEE/Postal code 16102/ 16100
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population sans doubles comptes: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Cognac is a commune in the French département of Charente, of which it is a sub-prefecture.[2] The inhabitants of the town are known as Cognaçais.

Contents

Geography

Cognac is situated on the river Charente between the towns of Angoulême and Saintes. The majority of the town has been built on the river's left bank, with the smaller right bank area known as the Saint Jacques district.

The town is situated on one of the pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostella.

Cognac is 250 miles southwest of Paris.

History

Unknown prior to the 9th century, the town was subsequently fortified. During the Hundred Years' War, the town changed sides on several occasions as the result of fighting and treaties in the region.

Francis I granted the town the right to trade salt along the river, guaranteeing strong commercial success, which in turn led to the town's development as a centre of wine and later brandy.

Tourist sites

  • The Old Town

The town's medieval quarter "Vieux Cognac" runs from the Tours Saint-Jacques, alongside the river, up to the Saint-Léger church. The area contains many unusual buildings, built between the 15th and 18th centuries, situated on narrow cobbled streets. Many contain sculptures of the salamander, the symbol of King François I, as well as gargoyles and richly decorated facades.

  • The Château des Valois, an important medieval trading post.
  • The Saint-Léger church. [Church Exterior:[3],[4]
  • The musée d'Art et d'Histoire (art and history museum)
  • The musée des arts du Cognac (art museum)
  • The Saint-Gobain glassworks and barrelworks

The area also contains many Romanesque churches as well as several châteaux. The musée des arts du Cognac

The musée des arts du Cognac
The Château des Valois
The Château des Valois

Cognac

Main article: Cognac (drink)

The town gives its name to one of the world's best-known types of brandy or eau de vie. Drinks must be made in certain areas around the town of Cognac and must be made according to strictly-defined regulations in order to be granted the name Cognac.

Economy

The region's economy is dominated by the manufacture of brandy. Industries surrounding this include:

  • Manufacture of agricultural machinery
  • Bottling, storage and labelling
  • Agricultural industries such as fertilizer production
  • Distillation products such as stills and tanks
  • Barrel making
  • Glassmaking: the bottle factory of the large Saint-Gobain group is situated in Cognac
  • Cork manufacture
  • Printing works for labels and advertising
  • Packaging
  • Transport

Farmland that is unsuitable for winemaking, principally low-lying areas that are prone to late frosts, are used for growing cereals.

Recently, winemakers have increasingly made a table wine vin de pays charentais using totally different grapes and methods to those required for cognac. This is partly to limit the effects of any unforeseen problems with the growth of the main crops.

Tourism and associated industries have also developed strongly in recent years.

The town is also home to the French Air Force training base 709.

Population

Total population
1962 1968 1975 1982 1990 1999 2005
20798 22062 22237 20660 19528 24579 10542

Miscellaneous

Famous residents

  • François I was born in the town's castle in 1494. He was king of France between 1515 and 1547. The town's main square is named after him and a statue of the king on horseback towering over his enemies stands at the centre.
  • The French poet Octavien de Saint-Gelais was born in Cognac in 1468.
  • Paul-Emile Lecoq de Boisbaudran, born in Cognac in 1838 discovered the elements Gallium in 1875 and Samarium in 1878.
  • Jean Monnet, one of the founding fathers of the European Union was born in Cognac in 1888.
  • The car manufacturer Louis Delâge was born in Cognac in 1874.
  • The glassmaker Claude Boucher, inventor of the glass-blowing machine in around 1880, lived and worked in Cognac. His invention paved the way for the industrial manufacture of glass bottles by removing the need for glasses to be blown by mouth. One of the original machines can still be seen in the town's museum.

Sport

Twin towns

Cognac is twinned with:

References

  1. ^ World-gazetteer.com
  2. ^ INSEE
  3. ^ http://www.bernezac.com/Cognac_St_Leger_03.jpg
  4. ^ http://www.ville-cognac.fr/IMG/cache-200x267/doc-190-200x267.jpg

External links

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This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 
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Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2007. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia. © 2006 Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Columbia Encyclopedia. The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Copyright © 2003, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Cognac".  Read more