En un regard
Le château en bref
The ramparts of Vannes are the fortifications built between the 3rd and 17th centuries to protect the town of Vannes in the Morbihan department of France. Founded by the Romans in the late 1st century BC during the reign of Augustus, the civitas Venetorum was forced to protect itself behind a castrum at the end of the 3rd century, at the very time a major crisis was shaking the Roman Empire. This first enclosure remained the town's only protection for more than a millennium. It was during the time of Duke John IV, at the end of the 14th century, that the town walls were rebuilt and extended to the south to protect the new districts. The duke wanted to make Vannes not only a place of residence but also a stronghold on which he could rely in the event of conflict. The area of the walled town was doubled, and the duke incorporated his fortress, the Château de l'Hermine, into the new enclosure.
The Wars of the League at the end of the 16th century obliged the town to equip itself with several polygonal bastions (Gréguennic, Haute-Folie, Brozilay, Notre-Dame). The Éperon de la Garenne is the last defensive work built at Vannes, around 1630. From 1670 onwards, King Louis XIV sold off the parts of the ramparts piece by piece to finance his wars. The most significant event was, in 1697, the gift to the town of Vannes of the ruins of the Château de l'Hermine, which were then used to redevelop the port and maintain municipal buildings.
Urban development in the 19th century resulted in the demolition of several sections of the northern and western walls. It was not until the partial destruction of the Porte Prison in 1886, one of the oldest entrances to the old town, that residents of Vannes attached to their heritage came together to form a heritage protection association in 1911. This was followed by the gradual introduction of protection for the ramparts as historic monuments between 1912 and 1958. For several decades, the town has undertaken the restoration and enhancement of the sections of the ramparts that it owns. The keystone of Vannes' heritage and a tourist attraction par excellence, the ramparts of Vannes are among the few urban fortifications still surviving in Brittany.
