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Vannes, medieval city
2000 years ago, the Venetians controlled the southern shore of the Armorican Peninsula. Despite their supremacy, the Gallic people had no other choice but to submit in 56 BC to the Romans. The legions of Julius Caesar decide to erect a fortified city. When the Roman Empire fell, Vannes was chosen to host the bishopric. Conquered by Pépin Le Bref, it will be partly destroyed during the Norman invasions. At the end of the Middle Ages, it became the scene of the reunification of Brittany with France in 1532.
Today Vannes is a pleasant city to live in the rhythm of its alleys, its ramparts, its gardens, its market ...
The unmissable places:
La Garenne wash house: The wash house was built between 1817 and 1821 and was the place where washerwomen met to beat their laundry.
The ramparts: Fortifications erected between the 3rd and 17th centuries to protect the city.
Saint Peter's Cathedral: It was built in 1020 and since 1419 has housed the relics of Saint Vincent Ferrier, patron saint of Valencia in Spain.
Vannes and his wife
The port and the Saint Vincent gate: In order to facilitate trade between the port and the city, the gate was pierced in 1624 and built in honor of Saint Vincent Ferrier.
The New Halls and the Fish Market
The Prison door: This door is one of the oldest in the walled city. Called Porte Saint Paterne in the Middle Ages, it became a place of confinement in the 18th century, it then took the name of Porte Prison. Listed as a historical monument from 1912.
The Saint Paterne district: It is the oldest district of Vannes located on the site of the city founded by the Romans in the 1st century BC. Cobbled streets and half-timbered houses.
Place Henri VI: Small cobbled square typical of the Middle Ages lined with timber-framed houses with overhanging floors, dating mainly from the end of the Middle Ages and close to Saint Pierre Cathedral.