The Jewish presence in Angoulême dates from at least the 13th century. A letter from the Pope in 1236 to the bishop of Angoulême attests to the violence suffered by the Jews during the Crusades.

The old synagogue was located near the Place Marengo and the Jewish cemetery between the abbey and the city walls.  Rue Raymond-Audour used to be called Rue des Juifs, a place where many Jews seemed to live in the Middle Ages.

In 2014 a cenotaph was inaugurated in memory of the Jewish victims of the Shoah in Moselle. On this occasion, the city of Angoulême inaugurated the Jewish square in the  Bardines cemetery , where this cenotaph and other old graves are located.