Paris1972-Versailles2003

I come to my nice Rennes. This time one of the nicest monument , and of course the City is in Îlle et Vilaine dept 35,of my lovely Bretagne, I have come back to this beautiful City after a long hiatus and it was wonderful, Bear with me as the next posts will be on this beautiful City, Let me tell you about the Porte Mordelaise of Rennes !! Hope you enjoy it as I.

Between the Place du Maréchal Foch and the rue de July the first enclosure, at the current quai Duguay-Trouin. The rue de July sectors, Place du Maréchal Foch, porte Mordelaise, porte aux Foulons or the place Saint-Germain, The term urban enclosure designates three series of fortifications established in Rennes between the end of the 3rd century and the first third of the15C. These three gates, which complement each other in time and space, have been the object, in particular since the 17C, of often brutal destruction, so that today their real presence in the city , and even more their perception from public space-remains extremely incomplete, mainly circumscribed to two sections of the first enclosure, the most important located to the west between the Porte Mordelaise, and the Tour Duchesne, the other in the North by Place Rallier-du -Baty.

The gates defended the old city rampart. Two towers remain, in granite, with the traces of defense and the Levis bridge.The Porte Mordelaise was rebuilt on its old bases around 1440; A gate of Roman times was to exist at this location. It was also called Porte Royale because the Dukes of Brittany and the bishops of Rennes entered the city. Until the end of the 16C, it served as a home for the governor. This is also where the city wardrobe was, namely the object store, and mainly artillery, belonging to it. The bourgeois often took their meetings there before having a house in town. The Chamber of Accounts also met there in the 15C. After being closed during the wars of the league, it was given to lease by the governor to individuals. In 1793,it received the name of Porte Marat and served as a prison. A complete gate of the 15C, it consists of a large and a small door flanked by two large towers. The facade is in granite. The door is slightly ogival. In the past, large moats and a Levis bridge preceded it. Above the large gate is a small rectangular niche surmounted by a mutilated carved stone. It is two lions faced supporting a spear to which a square banner are attached to the right, on the left a two -pointed handlebars. The Courtine is crowned with a row of jaws with three projections decorated with trilobed arcs. A corridor formerly vaulted (vault demolished in 1774) crosses the courtyard and forms the passage. Its west wall has a large warhead and its wall is a basket handle that leads to a staircase.

The Porte Mordelaise or Gate until the 15C, the city grew in the shelter of this wall as its political and economic role increased. At the beginning of the 15C, the town of residence of the Dukes of Brittany, however, has no landmarks outside its Cathedral! Two new ramparts walls were built in the 15C to ensure the development of the city. This new enclosure is completed in 1452, but already another extension is underway. In 1449, Duke François I took the decision to extend the city walls to the south of the Vilaine river. In 1473, this enclosure was in turn completed. It was during this century that the city was embellished by equipping itself in 1467 with its first civil monument: the Tour d’Horloge (Clock tower), quoted by François Rabelais in his work of Pantagruel !

The Rennes tourist office on the porte mordelaise :https://metropole.rennes.fr/portes-mordelaises-rennes-redecouvre-ses-remparts

There you go folks ,another jewel in my wonderful capital city of Rennes. The walks are worth it with plenty of lovely areas, Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Porte Mordelaise of Rennes !! as I.

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