This is Grand Fougeray !!!

Posted in Bretagne, France

Something that I need to tell you as it is one of our past times here in my belle France and lovely Bretagne.  We go around a lot here by car and walks in town and never cease to amaze me the diversity on how one can spent a day. This was no different in our finds in  Grand Fougeray, in Ille et Vilaine dept 35 , I have found me a picture in my cd rom vault that should be in my blog for you and me, Therefore, this is my take on this is Grand Fougeray !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I

The village of Grand-Fougeray is located in the department no 35 of Ille-et-Vilaine, in my lovely region of Bretagne and in my belle France. The N137 road that is a section of the “Autoroute des Estuaires” crosses the village, which is served by the exit/sortie 13, via the D 57 road. The village is also crossed by the D 56 road, which connects it to the N137, from or towards Nantes, via exit/sorite 12. The village is 36 km from Redon, 30 km from Châteaubriant, 36 km from La Gacilly, 53 km from Rennes, and 131 km from my current home from which we came by here along the N165 highway to exit/sortie 16 to get on the D34 road to Séverac from where we connected with the D773 road dir Redon,but at Fégréac took right the D124 road to connect with the D3 dir Guémené-Penfao passing on its City center and continue on the D130 road to continue same road the D57 to Grand Fougeray passing its City center see panel to the Tour Duguesclin,

The Château de Grand-Fougeray is a fortified castle whose construction, ordered by Olivier II Tournemire, began in 1189. It had nine towers of which only the 13C keep, also called the Tour Duguesclin Tower,(see pic), and some elements of the foundations of the enclosure remain. The castle was probably built on the orders of Jean II de Rieux who died in 1417. The castellany of Fougeray was owned by the Rieux family from 1235, by alliance with Nicole Le Beuf, to 1424. The Le Beuf family, lords of Fougeray since the 11C, probably owned a first castle of which no trace remains either on the site or in the texts. Occupied by the English until 1350, the castle was taken over by Bertrand Du Guesclin in 1354. The castle then remained the property of the Rieux family until 1425. In the middle of the 18C, Charles Jean Locquet de Grandville, a merchant and shipowner in Saint-Malo, bought Le Fougeray and La Roche-Giffart. He had the castle rebuilt. Bought in 1748 by a merchant, it served as a quarry for the Renaissance-style castle built next door and for houses in the village of Grand-Fougeray. Only the Tour Duguesclin remains, 13 meters in diameter and 34 meters high. The top floor of the keep housed a dovecote. Above this dovecote, a floor has disappeared.

Other things to see here with more time are the partially Romanesque Church Saint-Pierre-et-Saint-Paul dominates the town with its tall silhouette. It also has a rich history linked to the town’s past. The church, built in the 12C, has been constantly remodeled over the centuries. The large windows were pierced in 1830. The bell tower-porch was built in the 18C and then raised at the beginning of the 20C. The north wall was redone in the 15C and modified in 1830. The choir with a flat chevet dates from the 13C, The former courthouse, a half-timbered house from the 16C, now houses the services of the Grand-Fougeray community of towns, The Château des Lysardais built in 1835 on the site of the former Lysardais manor, the ruins of which have been preserved. The Château de la Chaumontelais, built between 1844 and 1847 on the site of a former 16C manor. The Cahan manor; it dates from the 16C, but was remodeled and enlarged in 1833. The Villa Méguinelle, in the Belle Époque style.

A bit of history I like tell us that it is possible that the Battle of Jengland, which in 851 pitted the Frankish troops of Charles the Bald against the Bretons of Erispoë, took place at Grand-Fougeray. In 903 the parish was named Fulkeriac Major (Grand Fougeray), a sign of its importance from that date. In 1202 Brient Le Bœuf, lord of Nozay, owned the lordship of Fougeray, but the first historical mention of the castle dates back to the middle of the 14C, even if it is very likely that this castle, an imposing fortress in the Marches of Brittany, existed well before, a tradition even saying it was founded by King Arthur ,but perhaps built in 1189 by Olivier de Tournemire. On July 15, 1467, Louis de la Trémoille and his wife Marguerite d’Amboise sold the land and lordship of Fougerai to Françoise d’Amboise, their sister-in-law, The castle and its castellany became the property of Jean VII d’Acigné of the Protestant religion in 1558 due to of his marriage around 1530 with Anne de Montjean During the Wars of Religion, the Leaguers attacked the local Protestants and Louis de la Chapelle was killed in front of his castle in 1595; his grandson Henri de la Chapelle de la Roche-Giffart, who had obtained the erection on June 8, 1644 of the lordship of Fougeray into a marquisate, was killed on July 6, 1652 during fighting alongside the Prince of Condé at the Porte Saint-Antoine in Paris in 1789; it is not known what became of it during the French revolution. In 1880, the village separated from a significant part of its territory which would give birth to two other villages Sainte-Anne-sur-Vilaine and La Dominelais. It lost its status as the largest village in Ille-et-Vilaine. Horse races were held annually at the Belle Étoile racecourse from 1920 onwards.

The village of Grand Fougeray on the Tour Duguesclin: https://www.grand-fougeray.fr/visites-guidees-de-la-tour-duguesclin/

The Ille et Vilaine dept 35 tourist office on the Parc de laTour Duguesclin :https://www.ille-et-vilaine-tourisme.bzh/partez-a-la-decouverte-de-lille-et-vilaine/nature-et-detente/espaces-naturels-et-sauvages/le-parc-de-la-tour-duguesclin-grand-fougeray-fr-2724516/

The Ille et Vilaine dept 35 gouv site on the parc de la tour duGuesclin : https://www.ille-et-vilaine.fr/le-parc-de-la-tour-du-guesclin

There you go folks another dandy road warrior trail of yours truly in off the beaten path Grand Fougeray. Again, hope you enjoy the post on this is Grand Fougeray !!! as I. And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

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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.

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