Paris1972-Versailles2003

And continuing my saga of revising old posts and updating text and pictures , I take you to the citadel city of Port Louis. A very nice quant place,worth the detour. Let me tell you on the curiosities of Port Louis, part I !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

Well this one is not far from where we live and we have visited several time.  This is Port Louis, and it is only 25 kms from my house in my beautiful Morbihan dept 56 of my lovely Bretagne, and in my belle France.  Of course, we come by car, but do not take the autoroutes or N when possible to see more and pay less tolls even if in Bretagne there are none! We use the D33 direction Nostang, Riantec, and Port Louis entering by the D781 and coming out from it .

The city which was formerly called Blavet and its citadel are renamed Port Louis in 1618 on a the Royal decision. Port-Louis, or Porzh Loeiz in Breton, recalls the name of the Kings of France and thus marks their suzerainty on this port which was long a Spanish fortress. The city is occupied by the Spaniards from 1590, the Duke of Mercœur, in a first time his alliance with king Felipe II (Philip II) , having delivered them thereafter, Don Juan del Aguila defended it and built fortifications there. The name of the new stronghold is given to him as Fuerte del Aguila (Fort de L’Aigle or Fort of the Eagle).

The Citadel was half dismantled at the beginning of the 17C, the Spaniards having evacuated the territory. The current name of Port-Louis, dating from 1618, is given in honor of King Louis XIII who wanted to make it a fortified city completed in 1642, the Citadel of Port-Louis (see post) is the key element of the defence of the harbour. . You can see here the Citadelle de Port-Louis (fortress),the tower or tour du Bastion, the fortifications all around it, Church of Notre Dame de-l’Assomption, and the park or parc à boulets. However, all is worth coming to see inside the fortress the museum of the Company of the Indies or musée de la Compagnie des Indes, and the museum of the marines or Musée national de la Marine de Port-Louis.

Really ,the main urge to come here is the Citadelle and its museum of the Indies. It is an impressive fortress and must visit if in the area. However, we have seen it so we move on. The museum  of the Marine  is a wonderful recollection of the seafaring French/Breton and its seafaring skills.  The other museum inside the Citadelle ,that covers more of the compagnie des  indies  and its travels to far régions such as Africa, Asia, and the Americas. More here: https://musee.lorient.bzh/museum-english-version/

There is a nice Church of Notre Dame de l’Assomption, done between 1660-1670, and renovated in 1835, located at the Place Notre-Dame. The Church was burned by the wild crowds in 1910 and rebuilt later.  From the old church we see the facade from the renaissance pseudo classic , it has a square belltower pierce by bays decorated with pilastres. The bell dates from  1853.

The port Locmalo is very picturesque and part of the old trade on sardines fishing here. You see the fishing harbor and the Chapelle Saint Pierre done in 1553 , rebuilt in 1859 ,and very much appreciated by the fisherman.  Move on to see the Grand Poudriére built 1750-1752 or big powder house, to keep that old ammunition all along the ramparts leading to the citadelle. See the harbor or Port de la Pointe, a tuna fishing harbor since 1902. The harbor with its pleasure boats and the ria boat service to Lorient from the embarkadére is very nice. The harbor info on the capitainerie is here : https://www.ports-paysdelorient.fr/fr/ports/le-port-de-port-louis

You have a nice Grande Plage or big beach here good in summer with plenty of changing rooms and restauration on the beach next to the citadelle. along the garden of the Mail you will see a somber reminder of the atrocities of WWII with a monument to the 69 résistants killed by the Nazis here.

The city of Port Louis on its heritage: http://www.ville-portlouis.fr/64-decouverte/488-cite-d-art-et-de-patrimoine.html

The tourist office of Lorient and South Bretagne on Port Louis: https://www.lorientbretagnesudtourisme.fr/fr/immanquables/port-louis/

The tourist office of Bretagne on Port Louis: https://www.brittanytourism.com/destinations/the-10-destinations/southern-brittany-morbihan-gulf/port-louis/

And there you go a brief tour of a nice citadelle town, more info and photos in subsequent posts on Port Louis. Again, hope you enjoy the post on the curiosities of Port Louis, part I !!! as I.

And remember , happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!