En un regard
Le château en bref
Pirmil Castle once guarded the southern entrance to Nantes, at the end of the bridge that crossed the Loire at that point. It was built in 1364–1365 by Nicolas Bouchart for Duke John IV of Brittany, who was keen to lock down this strategic crossing. The fortress followed an irregular quadrilateral plan: three towers linked by crenellated curtain walls and, to the south, an entrance châtelet housing the guardroom, the kitchens and the prisons. During the War of the Breton Succession and its aftermath, it fell into French hands, notably those of Du Guesclin in 1372, before being returned to the duke in 1382 following the Treaty of Guérande. It held firm against royal troops during the Guerre folle in 1487. Once Brittany was united with the kingdom, the castle lost its role and was dismantled in 1626, then briefly refortified in 1793. Its last remains disappeared in 1839 during the enlargement of Place Pirmil, which alone preserves its memory.