Château des Ducs de Bretagne, Nantes, France

The Château des ducs de Bretagne (Castle of the Dukes of Brittany) is a large castle located in Nantes. It served as the centre of the historical province of Brittany until its separation in 1941. It was the residence of the Dukes of Brittany between the 13th and 16th centuries, subsequently becoming the Breton residence of the French Monarchy. Today the castle houses the Nantes History Museum.

The restored edifice now includes the new Nantes History Museum, installed in 32 of the castle rooms. The museum presents more than 850 objects of collection with the aid of multimedia devices. The castle and the museum try to offer a modern vision of the heritage by presenting the past, the present and the future of the city. Night-time illuminations at the castle further reinforce the revival of the site. The 500-metre round walk on the fortified ramparts provides views not just of the castle buildings and courtyards but also of the town.

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User Reviews

Anne West-Leclou (15 months ago)
Amazing museum - very educational. You can choose short or extended self-guided visits

Akshay Mannur (2 years ago)
Beautiful castle. Good evidence of history you will just spend some nice time in here after visiting

alex Taylor (2 years ago)
Easily a two day visit. It's huge. Audio available and displays well set out.

Seamus McInerney (2 years ago)
Love this spot. Especially the coffee shop in the courtyard. Access to the courtyard and ramparts is free. There are charges for the chateaux itself and the exhibition space. Have not yet visited the chateaux but did visit an excellent visiting exhibition on the Vikings.

Khanh DO (2 years ago)
Really nice experience spending here. People who enjoy to engage more in history events can spend up to 2 more hours here, to see all the events that took placr in Nantes in gẻneral, and in this chateau alone. It explains deeply about the history of Nantes and chateau de Bretagne. The Chateau also opens for free for those who are just interested in the landscape of the chateau. Besides, The castle also have a nice green grass yard surround it for those who want a small picnic outside, bath in the sun and enjoy the chill air of the chateau.

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The Kalozha church of Saints Boris and Gleb is the oldest extant structure in Hrodna. It is the only surviving monument of ancient Black Ruthenian architecture, distinguished from other Orthodox churches by prolific use of polychrome faceted stones of blue, green or red tint which could be arranged to form crosses or other figures on the wall.

The church is a cross-domed building supported by six circular pillars. The outside is articulated with projecting pilasters, which have rounded corners, as does the building itself. The ante-nave contains the choir loft, accessed by a narrow gradatory in the western wall. Two other stairs were discovered in the walls of the side apses; their purpose is not clear. The floor is lined with ceramic tiles forming decorative patterns. The interior was lined with innumerable built-in pitchers, which usually serve in Eastern Orthodox churches as resonators but in this case were scored to produce decorative effects. For this reason, the central nave has never been painted.

The church was built before 1183 and survived intact, depicted in the 1840s by Michał Kulesza, until 1853, when the south wall collapsed, due to its perilous location on the high bank of the Neman. During restoration works, some fragments of 12th-century frescoes were discovered in the apses. Remains of four other churches in the same style, decorated with pitchers and coloured stones instead of frescoes, were discovered in Hrodna and Vaŭkavysk. They all date back to the turn of the 13th century, as do remains of the first stone palace in the Old Hrodna Castle.

In 2004, the church was included in the Tentative List of UNESCO"s World Heritage Sites.

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Château des Ducs de Bretagne

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