Situated on a rocky spur overlooking the Charente, Taillebourg boasts one of the oldest castles in the province of Saintonge, dating back to the 11th century. It was also one of the most important castles in the region in the Middle Ages. This stronghold enabled the city to assert its power and prosper thanks to its port and control of trade throughout the Middle Ages. Louis IX (the future Saint Louis) used the castle as his fortress to launch an assault on the King of England, Henry III. This victorious battle on 21 July 1242 became famous and was depicted several centuries later by Delacroix, whose painting can be seen in the Gallery of Battles at the Château de Versailles. Since 2014, the local authority has been working to raise awareness of the area's architectural and landscape heritage as part of the "green and blue network" (heritage orchard-garden, LPO refuge, educational trail, introduction of differentiated management). With the decline in river transport, Taillebourg is no longer a major commercial centre, but the village remains a destination for "inland tourism", with its restaurants, gîtes, guest houses, motorhomes, hiking trails, fishing and water sports.