Towns and villages
Ille-et-Vilaine and Côtes-d'Armor are full of beautiful towns and villages, especially the cities of art and history that are Dinard and Dinan. There is also Combourg, labeled "Petite Cité de Caractère". Green and classified resorts are numerous and among the most beautiful villages of France like Saint-Suliac. In terms of architecture, there are typical Breton houses made of granite and schist, stone houses sometimes resulting from old farm buildings, the famous malouinières of the corsair city, the rich villas of Dinard, and more contemporary houses in the so-called neo-Breton style. The seaside villas with bow-windows are remarkable on the Sillon.
Castles
On the Emerald Coast, in opposite styles, you will find the emblematic Fort La Latte nestled at an altitude of 72 metres and the castle of Combourg, a symbol of romantic Brittany. You will also come across a multitude of medieval castles, some of which have been restored: La Hunaudaye, Le Guildo, Dinan, the Fortress of Léhon... Just a stone's throw from the high cliffs of Cape Fréhel, Fort La Latte is a stone dream set on a rocky cape offering an uninterrupted view of the English Channel and Cape Fréhel to the east. Built by Etienne Goyon, Lord of Matignon, in the 14th century, it was known as the Château de la Roche Goyon before being definitively named Fort La Latte. Its main purpose was military defence and surveillance, but it also served as a court of justice. Here again, Vauban and Garangeau put the finishing touches to transform it into a coastal defence fort. It was part of the defensive system of Saint-Malo.
Classified as a historical monument since 1925, it has been restored and maintained by the Joüon des Longrais family, who have preserved and enhanced all its attributes: drawbridge, walls, dungeons, war machines and medieval garden are a dream for young and old. The cannonball oven, a real war machine, is almost intact. It is not for nothing that it is the most visited medieval castle in Brittany.
Religious architecture
Churches, chapels, cathedrals, calvaries... in Ille-et-Vilaine and in the Côtes-d'Armor, you can find all kinds of religious buildings, especially catholic ones, very often carved in granite. As far as styles are concerned, they are all represented and sometimes mix: Romanesque, Gothic... We can quote the Saint-Samson cathedral in Dol-de-Bretagne dating from the XIIth and XIIIth centuries, and the Saint-Vincent cathedral in Saint-Malo in which the explorer Jacques Cartier rests.
Military architecture
The Emerald Coast allows us to admire the military and architectural genius of Vauban who, under the orders of Louis XIV, reinforced the defenses of the French coastline, especially against English threats. As the military engineer in charge of fortifications, Vauban entrusted the architect and engineer Siméon Garengeau with the construction of numerous offshore forts. We owe him in particular the Harbour fort, the Conchée fort or the Petit Bé fort. On the hiking trails, you will also see World War II bunkers, built by the Germans to counter any attempt of allied landing. Fortifications can be seen at the Cité d'Aleth and give an idea of the Atlantic Wall project.
The ramparts of Saint-Malo
The jewel of the Emerald Coast, Saint-Malo has impressed, attracted and fascinated for centuries. The granite ramparts that have encircled the old town since the 12th century extend over nearly 2 km and offer visitors splendid views of the port, the Môle des Noires and the beaches of the Môle and Bon-secours. Three quarters of the enclosure date from the 18th century, since they were reinforced by the engineer Garengeau under the orders of Vauban, the leader of the military defences of the French coastline. The Grand' Porte, the small walls on the side of the Bidouane tower and the Saint-Thomas gate still remain from the medieval period. On your way, you will see the statues of Duguay-Trouin, Jacques Cartier and Robert Surcouf, emblematic figures in the history of Saint-Malo. Obligatory stop on the bastion of Holland where you will find the most beautiful view on the bay of Saint-Malo and Dinard. You will not be able to make the complete tour since the castle built by the Dukes of Brittany is occupied by the town hall. Unfortunately, people with reduced mobility cannot access the ramparts..
Dinan, medieval city
Built on a hill overlooking the Rance, this magnificent medieval city, labeled City of Art and History, was created in the 11th century. The Dukes of Brittany built the ramparts overlooking the Rance valley, which they continued to improve over the centuries. Under the impulse of a growing bourgeoisie, various measures were taken to fight against the insalubriousness reigning in the city, in parallel with its extra-mural development. Numerous pedestrian streets allow to enjoy the medieval charm of the houses with worked facades, the houses with wood sides dominating the pavement. Dinan is still surrounded by its ramparts, the largest and oldest in Brittany. This impressive belt of 3 km, composed of a keep, 14 towers and 4 monumental doors, surprises by the multiple treasures that it knew to protect throughout the centuries. The 2,600 m of ramparts are still intact.
Dol-de-Bretagne and the Dol mountain
"Dol, a Spanish town in France, in Brittany, is not a town, it is a street. A great old Gothic street, lined on the right and left with houses with pillars, aligned points that make headlands and elbows in the street, moreover very wide ... ", wrote Victor Hugo. The current town of Dol, located in the middle of former marshes, offers the attraction of an exceptional built heritage: half-timbered houses, low galleries, biscornus roofs as well as one of the rare specimens of the civil architecture of the XIIth century in France and one of the oldest houses of Brittany, "la maison des Petits Palets".
