Josselin Castle

Josselin presents two entirely different faces. From the Oust, it is a defensive wall of grey schist with three round towers rising straight out of the water, the surviving fragment of a much larger medieval castle that Richelieu had partly demolished in 1629. From the courtyard behind, it is late Gothic and Renaissance work in granite, carved so finely around the windows and balustrade that the stone reads like lace. The Rohan family has held it since the fifteenth century and still lives in part of it, which is why only some rooms open. The stables house a museum of dolls from the family collection.

History

Guéthénoc, Viscount of Porhoët, began the first castle around 1008 on a rock above the Oust and named it after his son Goscelinus, and the town grew with the September pilgrimage to Notre-Dame du Roncier, held since the 9th century. After Odo II of Porhoët tried to deprive the young Duke Conan IV of Brittany of his inheritance, Henry II of England pulled the castle down in 1168 and 1175. In the War of the Breton Succession the garrison of Josselin fought the Battle of the Thirty in 1351 against the knights of Ploërmel, and in 1370 Olivier V de Clisson, later Constable of France, acquired the lordship and built a new fortress with eight towers, marrying his daughter to Alain VIII of Rohan. Duke Francis II partly demolished it in 1488, and his daughter Anne of Brittany restored it to Jean II of Rohan, who built the Renaissance house with its carved granite facade and her badge, the letter A beneath a cord (Wikipedia, Josselin Castle).

What you'll find

• The river front - three round towers rising from the Oust.
• The carved courtyard - late Gothic granite worked like lace.
• The furnished rooms - the parts of the family house that open.
• The doll museum - several hundred dolls in the old stables.

When to go

April to October; the castle closes in winter apart from occasional dates. Guided tours are the only way into the interior and run at set times. The canal towpath is pleasant in summer.

Things to know

Only a few rooms are open because the family lives here, and entry is by timed guided tour, in French unless an English tour is scheduled. The doll museum is a separate ticket element.

Nearby

Rochefort-en-Terre lies south; Vannes is southwest.

Key facts