The Château de La Roche Maurice !!

Posted in Bretagne, Food and Wine, France

Let me take you to another wonderful off the beaten path site in my lovely Bretagne. However, the locals know it well and we love it even the market.  I have enjoyed the visits to La Roche Maurice in the Finistére dept 29, and I am amazed of the monuments of great architecture and historical value here.Therefore, lLet me update this post on the Château de La Roche Maurice !! Hope you enjoy it as I.

The Château de la Roche Maurice clinging to its rocky outcrop overlooking the Elorn river by 70 meters: it was in the 11C that the viscount of Cornouaille, Morvan, erected it for its strategic defensive position. The medieval castle then passed into the hands of the family of the viscounts of Léon, then that of Rohan, before serving as a prison. It even becomes a quarry for the reconstruction of the town! Find out more about the site at the Heritage House, located at the foot of the castle. You will find some objects from the excavations. Interpretation panels are also installed to guide you in the discovery of this monument with a square dungeon that few buildings of this type have preserved in Brittany.

la-roc-maurice-castle-back-from-trail-ar-it-jul17
la-roc-maurice-castle-back-side-fr-trail-jul17

A bit of history I like tell us that the castle has according to legend, is very old , would have belonged in the 5C to a Lord named
 Élorn and then would have been called Hainebon, “the old bridge”, the history of the Château de la Roche-Maurice is closely linked to the counts of Leon. During the dismantling of the territory of Léon in 1180, the youngest branch of the Léon family ,founded by Hervé I de Léon Lord of Léon, the youngest son of Guyomarch IV, Viscount of Léon, obtained the territories of Daoulas, Landerneau and Landivisiau until Penzé and manages to keep himself around his fief of La Roche-Maurice for 8 generations. The Château, which was then called Roc’h-Morvan ,because it was originally built, facing Leon, by a Lord of Cornwall, called Morvan, was taken by the English in 1177; they placed a garrison there until Geoffroy II Plantagenet, Duke of Bretagne from 1181 to 1186, restored a part of Léon to the sons of Guyomarch IV of Leon. The dungeon, about 13 meters wide, could have been raised by Guyomarch V of Leon, heir in 1179 of the Viscounty of Leon, and living until 1210. It is probably partially destroyed around 1240 when Hervé III, Lord of Léon tries vainly to oppose the advance of the Duke of Brittany Jean I Le Roux, but nevertheless continues to be in the hands of the family of Leon until the death of Hervé VIII of Leon in 1363, who dies without a direct heir . The lordship of Leon had a sister, Jeanne, wife of John I of Rohan. The lordship ,then became part of the House of Rohan. For 150 years, waiting to become Viscounts of Rohan, the eldest sons of Rohan settled until 1517 in the Château de la Roche-Maurice under the title of Lords of Leon. The Castle was then the only fortress of the lordship of Leon in a state of defence fortification. In 1489, following the Franco-Breton war of 1489-1491 led by Viscount John II of Rohan, who claims to inherit the Duchy of Brittany because of his ascend and his wife Marie de Bretagne against the King of France Charles VIII, the 
Château de la Roche-Maurice  is dismantled. Around 1580, during the League wars, the Rohan took the side of the Protestant party in Brittany. The castle is probably definitely destroyed at that time. It will never be rebuilt. In 1678, the remains of the castle was transformed into a prison, and retained this role until 1694 in the 18-19C, the Castle served as a quarry, and many of the houses of the village and perhaps the present church were built with these stones. The Château remained the property of the family of Rohan until its acquisition in 1986 by the General Council of Finistère open now to the visit, the Castle now offers a secure course dotted with interpretive panels (construction phases, reconstitution of scenes of daily life). The history of the Château de la Roche-Maurice will remain, however, forever unknown due to the destruction of most of the trail of the Maison de Rohan, also known as the “Chartrier of Blain” in 1793 during the reign of terror of the French revolution. Very nicely done the presentation tours from the tourist office of La Roche Maurice which is at the base of the Castle across it. A nice place to see on the off the beaten path ways of my Brittany; hope you have enjoy it.

The City of La Roche Maurice on the castle : https://larochemaurice.fr/chateau/

The local Landerneau Daoulas tourist office on the Château de La Roche Maurice:  https://www.tourisme-landerneau-daoulas.fr/sinspirer/art-et-heritage/chateau-la-roche-maurice-roch-morvan/

There you go folks, another dandy in my lovely Bretagne. These are great architecture and history of the medieval period with nice views , worth the detour to La Roche Maurice . Again, hope you enjoy this post on the Château de La Roche Maurice !! as I.

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

Unknown's avatar

Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

Leave a comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.