The charm of traditional houses
The traditional Breton house varies from region to region. Stone is very much in evidence in the west, particularly pink, blond or grey granite: its fine ashlars are used for corner quoins, door and window surrounds, fireplaces, and sometimes entire facades. Some areas, particularly in central Brittany, prefer small shale rubble. In the eastern part of the region, earth-based mixes such as pisé are used instead. The steeply pitched roof is covered with slate, which replaced thatch in the 19th century. Some fine thatched cottages have been preserved, notably in Lanvaudan, Morbihan.
In the countryside, single-storey thatched cottages are predominant. On the coast, small fishermen's cottages, known as pentys, are huddled together as if to keep warm and resemble doll's houses. In some regions, such as southern Finistère, they are plastered with lime and their shutters are brightly colored, painted at the time with the rest of the pots for the boats.
Between the wars, regionalist architects took up the codes of the traditional house to develop the Neo-Breton style: white walls (or sometimes all-stone), slate roofs and granite frames. Combining identity and modern comfort, neo-Breton houses became very popular in the 1960s, proliferating in the countryside and on the outskirts of towns.
Castles and noble residences in profusion
Lovers of fine stonework can rejoice: castles and manor houses can be counted in their thousands. A large number of châteaux were built between the end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century, a period of peace and prosperity following the War of Succession. The victorious Duke of Brittany Jean IV, his successors and the region's leading families built on a grand scale, often based on existing structures. A veritable demonstration of power, these sumptuous castles combined military functions, with their high walls and machicolations, with residential functions, with their palatial dungeons featuring reception rooms, large windows and beautiful fireplaces... The Château de Dinan, the masterpiece of John IV, as well as those of Fougères, Suscinio, Vitré, Combourg, La Hunaudaye and Tonquédec, the Tour Solidor in Saint-Malo and the Fort-la-Latte all date from this period.
After the French annexation of France in the 16th century, châteaux gradually adopted the French style. The flamboyant Gothic style persisted, as in Josselin, while a pared-down Renaissance style slowly took hold, as at Château de Kerjean and Château de Kergroadez in Léon, and Château du Rocher-Portail and Château de Comper in Ille-et-Vilaine. Classicism is embodied in the Château de la Bourbansais and the unfinished Château de Quintin.
The 14th and 15th centuries also saw the blossoming of pretty Gothic manor houses, the work of Brittany's plethora of rural gentry. The architecture of these defenseless residences was often ostentatious: corner turrets topped with pepper-pots, stair towers, doorframes carved in stone, reception rooms, monumental fireplaces, private chapels... Among the most remarkable are Château de la Roche-Jagu in Ploëzal and Château de Bois-Orcan in Noyal-sur-Vilaine.
Over time, the nobility lost control of the manor, which also became the property of local notables and wealthy merchants. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the Saint-Malo countryside saw the emergence of a number of gentilhommières, built by the city's shipowners as holiday resorts. Surrounded by large formal gardens, these malouinières with their sumptuous interiors all feature similar, austere architecture: granite frames and quoins, steeply pitched slate roofs, tall chimneys, numerous symmetrical windows... Some of the hundred or so remaining malouinières are open to the public, such as La Chipaudière in Saint-Malo and La Ville Bague in Saint-Coulomb.
The Revolution wreaked havoc on all these buildings, which were looted, burned, confiscated, abandoned, transformed into barracks or prisons, used as stone quarries... During the 19th century, extravagant and eclectic châteaux were built: Kériolet in Concarneau, Trévarez in Finistère and Trédion in Morbihan.
Cities with a rich heritage
Several towns have been awarded the Ville d'art et d'histoire label: Brest, Concarneau, Dinan, Dinard, Fougères, Lorient, Quimper, Rennes, Vannes and Vitré. Some twenty others have been awarded the "Petite cité de caractère" label, including Bécherel, Locronan, Rochefort-en-terre, Tréguier... Not to mention the many historic towns such as Auray, Pont-l'Abbé, Lannion, Morlaix, Pontivy and Saint-Malo.
Timber-framed houses are part of Brittany's heritage. Colorful, often with corbels, sometimes with porches, some with sculpted decorations, they were built over several centuries. Rennes is the city with the most, ahead of Vannes, Morlaix, Vitré and Dinan, one of the best-preserved medieval cities. From the 17th century onwards, after several devastating fires, timber-framed houses were plastered over or replaced by fine stone mansions. In towns such as Quintin, Landerneau and Pontrieux, they bear witness to a rich past linked to the cloth trade.
Churches and chapels by the shovel
In Brittany more than anywhere else, Catholicism has left its mark, and the region is home to a large number of churches. In Lower Brittany, they are often built of granite, including the steeple, while in the east, slate roofs are preferred. Brittany is also home to a host of chapels, many of them touching: Sainte-Barbe in Le Faouët, tucked away in a wooded valley; Saint-Gonéry in Plougrescant, with its leaning bell tower; Kermaria-an-Iskuit in Plouha, with its fresco of a danse macabre; Saint-Gildas in Bieuzy, tucked away under a rock; Saint-Michel-de-Brasparts, dominating the Monts d'Arrée....
In the cities of the seven founding saints, cathedral building began as early as the 12th century and lasted for several centuries, resulting in a blend of Romanesque, Gothic and Renaissance styles. Among the most beautiful are those of Quimper, Tréguier and Dol.
Typical of rural Lower-Brittany, parish enclosures flourished in the 16th and 17th centuries, the province's golden age, enriched by the flax and hemp trade. The object of rivalry between parishes, these architecturally ostentatious complexes consisted of several elements in addition to the church: ossuary, surrounding wall, cemetery, fountain, reliquary chapel, triumphal gate and calvary. The prettiest are in Finistère: Sizun, Pleyben, Saint-Thégonnec...
Ramparts and Fortifications
Several medieval towns still boast fine ramparts, including Saint-Malo, Dinan, Vannes, Moncontour and Quimper. In the 17th century, under the reign of Louis XIV, the Marquis de Vauban had a vast network of defenses built. In Brittany, these were concentrated on the coasts and islands. These included the Belle-Île-en-Mer and Port-Louis citadels in Lorient harbor, the Conchée fort in Saint-Malo bay, the Camaret tower, the Château du Taureau in Morlaix bay, and the Brest fortifications....
Remnants of the Atlantic Wall erected by the Nazis during the Second World War, the many blockhouses and bunkers along the Breton coastline are another reminder of Brittany's strategic position during the conflict. Discover this heritage at the Cité d'Alet memorial in Saint-Malo.
The molts of the 20th century
Emerging at the end of the 19th century, seaside resorts expanded at the beginning of the 20th. Hotels, casinos and extravagant villas flourished in Dinard, Carnac, Perros-Guirec and Bénodet, blending a variety of styles: Neo-Gothic, Orientalist, Art Nouveau, Art Deco, Norman or English picturesque...
During the Roaring Twenties, Art Deco spread throughout the region, even to the suburbs. Bourgeois and working-class houses alike adopted this geometric style, which also inspired a number of public buildings. The casino in Val-André, the Saint-Georges swimming pool in Rennes, the cinema in Saint-Quay-Portrieux and the Ty Kodak building in Quimper are among the jewels of the genre.
The period between the wars also saw the birth of the Seiz Breur movement. Initiated by the engraver Jeanne Malivel, it brought together young artists who wanted to take Breton art out of archaism and anchor it in Art Deco-inspired modernity. They were mainly active in the decorative arts (furniture, earthenware, wallpaper, etc.), but also influenced architecture, such as the Grand Séminaire in Saint-Brieuc and the railway station in Dinan.
The period was also marked by a craze for Odorico mosaics, created by a family of Italian craftsmen based in Rennes. Their Art Deco-inspired creations adorned the facades and interiors of many businesses, homes and other buildings. These mosaics can be admired in large numbers in Rennes (Saint-Georges swimming pool, Sainte-Thérèse church...), but also in over a hundred towns in the west of France.
The Second World War wreaked havoc, especially in Lorient, Saint-Malo and Brest. While Saint-Malo was rebuilt in the pre-war spirit, the centers of Lorient and Brest, 90% destroyed, underwent a radical facelift. The Finistère city was rebuilt on its backfilled rubble and, under the auspices of architect Jean-Baptiste Mathon, a new city center emerged, with a rectilinear plan and a style inspired by the modern movement, with many buildings featuring white facades. The reconstruction of Lorient, on the other hand, was long and laborious, with no overall plan or coherence. It also followed the precepts of modernism, but in a disparate way, drawing on the different fashions of the time.
The following decades saw the territory urbanize, with towns bristling with large-scale housing projects. The most emblematic of these are the Siamese towers of Les Horizons, in Rennes. Built in 1970, they still hold the record as the tallest skyscraper in Brittany.
