I like to tell you a bit more on Lanester, as was by there again on my local road warrior trips with the boys and Rex, Memories of old always nice to have in my blog! Lanester is located in my beautiful Morbihan and lovely Bretagne, and in my belle France, It is about 30 km from my house, It was created in 1909 by the dismemberment of Caudan, The Breton name of the town is Lannarstêr. This name comes from the appellation “lann-er-ster” and translates “the river moor” or “the mouth of the river”. This newest incursion into Lanester will compliment older post on the introduction to the city. Therefore, this will be in my black and white series, no pictures. Therefore, let me tell you of this is Lanester !!! Hope you enjoy this post as I.
The first hamlets which developed in the Middle Ages on the site of the future city are the village of Lann er Ster (located approximately in the middle of the current rue Kesler-Devillers) and the village of Kerentrech , Saint Guenaël is said to have founded a monastery in the 6C on the right bank of the Blavet ; the monastery would have been destroyed 5 centuries later during the Norman invasions; the Saint-Guenaël chapel was built on the site of the monastery in the 13C and a fishing village developed nearby
Some of the things to see here are : The remains of a Gallo-Roman salting factory, the boat cemetery of Kerhervy, along the Blavet; the open-air theater: located in a meander of the Blavet, near the boat cemetery, The Mané castle (17C), restored in 1880. This castle is built on the site of an older building reported in 1698 and which then depended on the castellany of Pont-Callec. Seat of the lordship of Mané in the 17C, The square tower to the east and the turret to the west were added at the end of the 19C by Colonel Geoffroy, (under renovations). The remains of the Château du Plessis (15C). Seat of the lordship of Plessis or Quinquis. Successive ownership by several families. The castle was destroyed during WWII. The park du Plessis was purchased by the town of Lanester in 1973. There remains a part of a dovecote (15C), located on avenue du Général-de-Gaulle and in the Parc du Plessis.
The Saint-Joseph-du-Plessis Church 20C at Rue Etienne Dolet , In the choir of the church, a sculpture of the Holy Family was inaugurated on April 27, 1947. the Notre-Dame-du-Pont Church 20C at Rue Jean Jaurès This is an ordinary modern church, the Saint-Guénaël Chapel, dedicated to Saint Guénaël, in Romanesque style, from the 11C, restored in the 15C and 20C, the Saint-Yves or Notre-Dame du Resto Chapel. It is thought to have belonged to the Templars for no reason. The current church from the 15-16C,
The peninsular location of Lanester (a site with three rias) explains the presence of several road bridges allowing them to be crossed: the Bonhomme bridge crosses the Blavet ria, replacing a previously used ferry, and connects Lanester to Kervignac (see post) and the left bank du Blavet The Saint-Christophe bridge crosses the Scorff ria and connects Lanester to Lorient and replaces several ferries previously allowing the crossing of the ria between initially the parishes of Caudan and Ploemeur, then between Caudan (Lanester after the creation of the town in 1909 ) and Lorient from the creation of this city The Gueydon bridge (named in honor of Louis Henri de Gueydon), located further downstream on the Scorff ria, was built in 1913, but located in the area of military port of Lorient-Lanester, it is not accessible to the civilian public. A new road bridge spanning the Scorff estuary, the Pont des Indes, was put into service in 2007, reserved for public transport on its own site between Lanester and Lorient. The railway viaduct crossing the Scorff was inaugurated in 1862 by Napoleon III. The railway line from Paris-Montparnasse to Quimper,(passing Vannes and Auray near me) initially called the Line from Savenay to Landerneau, used in particular by the TGV Atlantique, crosses Lanester, but the town does not have a station, that of Lorient being very close. The construction of the RN 165 expressway, which crosses the northern part of the municipal territory in two places, on the one hand at the level of the Kerpont-Kerrous activity zone where the Caudan interchange serving Lanester is located, on the one hand elsewhere further east near Hennebont, led to the construction of the Locoyarn bridge which crosses the Blavet ria clearly upstream of the Pont du Bonhomme. Lanester is accessible by the national road 165. (N165), The town is served by buses/coaches of the regional network BreizhGo ( line 15 (Lorient – Plouay – Le Faouët – Gourin – Carhaix Plouguer), line 16 (Lorient – Étel) and line 17 ( Lorient – Baud – Pontivy)) (see post) ,Finally the town of Lanester is served by the CTRL local bus network serving Lorient as well,
It is in Caudan, or rather Lann er Ster (current Lanester), on the left bank of the Scorff that the shipyards, too much to the narrow right bank, installed their infrastructure. The first building blocks were established in 1755-1757 but the site was not developed until the following century. In 1756, the Compagnie des Indes extended its sites on the lands of the lordship of Plessis at the point of Caudan, future Lanester, and built three holds, a forge, hangars, a guardhouse, and a battery. In November 1762, the launches of the Diligent and the Six-Corps took place, 74-gun vessels, built by a Lorient merchant, Sieur de La Frété Bernard. On December 22, 1798, the Argonaute, a 74-gun Téméraire-type vessel, was launched, construction of which began in 1794 on Caudan’s No. 3 slipway. In 1859, La Couronne, the first iron armored frigate of the Gloire type , was built by the Lorient arsenal on the Caudan bank on one of the eight slipways in service since 1830. Its figurehead in stone pine, taken from the sculpture workshop of the Lorient arsenal, is visible at the National Maritime Museum. The Kership shipyard, a joint venture between Naval Group and the Piriou shipyards, built 12 anti-mine vessels on the Rohu en Lanester site for Belgium and the Netherlands at the start of the 2020’s
The city has been labeled “4 Flowers” since 2012 and obtained the “Heritage Development Prize” in 2018. . The flower towns of France on Lanester : https://www.villes-et-villages-fleuris.com/les-communes-labelisees/parcs-et-jardins-lanester/21840
The city of Lanester on its history/heritage : https://www.lanester.bzh/territoire/histoire-et-patrimoine/histoire/?L=1
The Local Lorient South Brittany tourist office on Lanester : https://www.lorientbretagnesudtourisme.fr/fr/immanquables/lanester/
There you go folks a bit more on nice close by Lanester. The town may not be touristic but it sure packs a lot of family memories since in the area with my dear late wife Martine. To remember is to live again!!, they said, Again, hope you enjoy this road warrior trip on this is Lanester !!! as I
And remember, happy travels, good health ,and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 