Château of the Rohan Family
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The château interior Pontivy The southwest tower Northwest tower The chapel Parapet walk Château of Basement Small shutters with a hole cut in the centre, designed for crossbows to be Parapet walk Sober in style with a blue, wood- Koki Watanabe, a Japanese artist living in France, fired through, once covered the openings that today afford almost a full The walk encircles panelled ceiling, the chapel is lit by the Rohan family created his first Oval Possession in Marseille in 360-degree view of the town. the most imposing of 1999. In 2002, as part of the annual art festival, Two latrines – simple flagstones with holes cut in them and placed over a a Gothic arch window. The chapel the château’s towers, was extended to the east at the end Art dans les Chapelles (Art in the Chapels), the channel set into the thick walls and leading out into the moat – have been which has a 60-metre installation was displayed in the chapel of Saint of the nineteenth century following preserved at the far end of the parapet walk. circumference. Gildas in Bieuzy-les-Eaux. The town of Pontivy the collapse of the adjacent tower. then decided to commission a permanent The chapel was restored to its installation for the château. Bought with help Parapet walk original size during restoration work from Morbihan regional council and the French The west gallery supervised by René Lisch in the national savings bank, the work, which is a 1960s. light and sound installation, was placed in the The polychrome bay in stone set southwest tower in 2006. Globes made of resin The series of male and female saints from into the north wall comes, like the Koki Watanabe, enclose marine objects collected from the the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, two fireplaces mentioned above, Oval Possession, Breton shoreline – seaweed, shells, etc. Each 1999-2006 globe hangs by a metal rope down which runs a positioned at the start of the gallery, Duchess’ bedroom Altarpiece from Saint-Ivy Chapel from the Château of Coët-Candec. thin stream of water. The drops of water slide comes from the parish of Moustoir- Formerly featuring a central across the surface of each globe and, as they fall Remungol, twenty kilometres south of Wood panelling opening, in its original location it was used as a serving hatch. into the bowl below, they produce different Pontivy. Bought by the tourist board in on the ceiling The altarpiece comes from Saint-Ivy Chapel in the centre of Pontivy. sounds depending on the shape of the globe. 1929 – ostensibly to avoid them being The chapel is still used on special occasions for Protestant worship. Deliberate lighting effects created using dispersed at a time when the original penlights complete the work. building housing them was falling into ruin – the figures were given to the town A chapel dedicated in turn to Catholic Ground floor of Pontivy and were subsequently and Protestant worship installed in the château in 1984. The fireplace of the Great Hall, in polychrome The fireplace at the far end of the gallery, Statue of Saint Margaret stonework, dates from the sixteenth century like the one in the Great Hall, comes from Around When first built, the chapel is used as a Catholic place and came from the Château of Coët-Candec in the Château of Coët-Candec. It also is decorated with polychrome heraldic 1500 of worship dedicated to Saint Meriadec. Locmaria-Grand-Champ near Vannes. In 1960, motifs* accompanied by quotes in Latin from religious texts. this building was in danger of falling down and Converted today into a small film theatre, this chamber was traditionally the place where the Duchess of Rohan slept when staying at Pontivy. Its 1560 A committed supporter of Reformation ideas, Viscount so, to prevent the destruction of two fireplaces Henri I of Rohan founds the Protestant church of Pontivy. and a serving hatch, the town of Pontivy Successive residents of the château decor – decorated wood panelling on the ceiling and neo-classical pilasters* The Rohan family stayed from time to time at the château until the end of surrounding the screen – is characteristic of the eighteenth century. decided to buy them and install them in the 1589 During the wars of Religion, the château is occupied for Rohan family château. The fireplace in the Great the eighteenth century. The château is then occupied in succession by: 9 years by the Catholic forces of the Duke of Mercœur. Hall is decorated with a wealth of heraldic The regional civil service in the form of the Sous-préfecture and motifs* relating to the Chohan family, owners of Pontivy civil court room (1800-1839) Coët-Candec Manor from the fourteenth to the The north gallery 1598 The Edict of Nantes brings the Wars of Religion to an Fireplace from seventeenth century. General Bernadotte, commander-in-chief of western forces end. In accordance with its terms, Protestants are the Château responsible for fighting the Chouans, or Royalist insurgents, who granted six places where they can celebrate weddings. of Coët-Candec sets up his headquarters here in May-June 1801 The chapel of Pontivy is one of them. The stone mullion* and transom* windows First floor The Kermaria nuns who set up a boarding school for girls overlooking the moat, which were blocked up 1686 One year after the Edict of Nantes was revoked, the (1841-1884) in the nineteenth century, were restored in the The unpainted, stone fireplace has piers chapel is returned to Catholic worship. twentieth century. The openings on the decorated with bunches of grapes and vine A Breton museum founded by Jérôme Le Brigand in the late courtyard side were enlarged and wrought iron leaves, and is of a type often found in the region nineteenth century 1794- It is unclear what the chapel is used for. at the end of the fifteenth century. balustrades added in the eighteenth century. 1841 The pegged wooden parquet floor was The room was restored in the 1960s, but the The town sports club (La Garde Saint-Ivy), the scouts and a few 1841- The chapel is used by the Catholic nuns of Kermaria. woodwork is original. The ceiling that used to Pontivy families (housed in the west gallery that is divided into reconstructed using original fragments found 1884 conceal the roof beams was not replaced during rooms for this purpose) during the first half of the twentieth during restoration. restoration so that the remarkable work carried 1884- The chapel serves various purposes. In particular, it is used century, except for the period 1939-1940 1974 Roof beams out by carpenters at the end of the Middle Ages Window with stone mullion and transom as a gym by the local sports club, La Garde Saint-Ivy. could still be seen. During the Second World War, Polish troops and Breton separatists 1974 Josselin de Rohan rededicates the chapel to Protestant (June-September 1940). *Pilaster: Vertical, slightly prominent, rectangular decorative feature. *Heraldic motifs: Representations taken from coats of arms *Mullion: Vertical piece in window tracery. worship. *Transom: Horizontal piece in window tracery forming a cross with a mullion*. The main facade The courtyard Château de Pontivy Predominantly defensive appearance 1, rue de Lourmel Remains of the Constructed at the turn of the sixteenth century, the château of Jean II northeast Layout 56300 Pontivy was not, at that stage, influenced by the Renaissance style. It was one of tower Traces of the residential wing Tel.: +33 (0)2 97 25 12 93 the last fortified châteaux to be built in Brittany and represents a fine The irregular, four-sided layout of the château is flanked by a round tower example of military architecture seeking to adapt to developments in artillery. at each corner. Only two residential wings remain – to the west and north. Design: Imagine you are standing in front of the château at the end of the The residential wing that originally stood to the east was converted into Ville de Pontivy, Education and Promotional fifteenth century: an artillery terrace in the seventeenth century and transformed into a Events Service, Heritage Department, 2009 Chapel decorative garden in the eighteenth century. No evidence has been found E There are no windows. confirming the existence of a residential wing on the south side. Only two Translation: Anne Withers From the foot of the slope, the château is hardly visible, and the N of the four corner towers have been preserved. The northeast tower was surrounding moat is much deeper – the counterscarp* was levelled S destroyed in the nineteenth century. The existence of the fourth, Illustrations: The château in 1954, Postcard: AM, 2Fi1; at the beginning of the twentieth century with the soil that was southeast, tower is still being investigated. view of northwest W Drawing of the castle: Pontivy, technical corner removed being used to fill in the moat. services; Two drawbridges reinforce the château’s defences. Three vertical Photos 1, 2, 4, 5, 6: Talairach, François; grooves (1), evidence of the drawbridge lifting mechanism, are still An original rainwater Photos 3, 7, 11: Le Divenah, François; Photos 8, 9, 10: Bocquet, Anne. visible above the doors – small door for those on foot and large door Timeline drainage system All illustrations are © Ville de Pontivy for carriages – leading to the courtyard. Walls at the end of the fifteenth century tended to be made thicker North gallery Graphic design: There are no gargoyles, but Around Creation of the Viscounty of Rohan. in order to withstand cannon fire. Here they are over 5 metres thick nuancesgraphiques.com 1120 there are down pipes topped in places! with animal sculptures.