Château de Combourg, Combourg, France

The original castle on the site of current Château de Combourg was built around 1025 by Archbishop Guinguené, who gave it to his illegitimate brother Riwallon. Major alterations were made between the 15th and 19th centuries. The castle consists of four large, powerful buildings of dressed granite, with crenellations and machicolations, enclosing a rectangular courtyard. In each corner of this massive fortress is a round tower, also with crenellations and machicolations, with conical roofs. In 1761, the Chateaubriand family acquired the property and it was the childhood home of François-René de Chateaubriand (1768–1848).

References:

Wikipedia

User Reviews

martin.d humpston (2 years ago)
Love the tour the down side we were handed a book which was 4 or 5 pages long to follow the tour while guide spoke in France didn't make since need to translate while going around.

Peter Chester (3 years ago)
Great park Interesting house. Good guide but only in French.

Grace Richards (3 years ago)
The grounds are lovely (we didn't get to explore much as it was raining) but I wouldn't recommend the tour unless a fluent French speaker! I thought we'd just be able to look around the Château by ourselves but you could only go in as part of the group which wasn't ideal!

Roger Scott (3 years ago)
An enjoyable afternoon but the castle can only be visited with a guide- and some are much better than others. Dont try and drag young children round the castle! Spacious gardens and Combourg is a very pleasant place to visit in any case!

Harvey Mains (3 years ago)
Grounds are beautiful. We were too late for a tour, so I just walked around and absorbed the wonderful ambience. The town is charming with a lake.

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Situated in the basement of Metropol Parasol, Antiquarium is a modern, well-presented archaeological museum with sections of ruins visible through glass partitions, and underfoot along walkways.

These Roman and Moorish remains, dating from the first century BC to the 12th century AD, were discovered when the area was being excavated to build a car park in 2003. It was decided to incorporate them into the new Metropol Parasol development, with huge mushroom-shaped shades covering a market, restaurants and concert space.

There are 11 areas of remains: seven houses with mosaic floors, columns and wells; fish salting vats; and various streets. The best is Casa de la Columna (5th century AD), a large house with pillared patio featuring marble pedestals, surrounded by a wonderful mosaic floor – look out for the laurel wreath (used by emperors to symbolise military victory and glory) and diadem (similar meaning, used by athletes), both popular designs in the latter part of the Roman Empire. You can make out where the triclinium (dining room) was, and its smaller, second patio, the Patio de Oceano.

The symbol of the Antiquarium, the kissing birds, can be seen at the centre of a large mosaic which has been reconstructed on the wall of the museum. The other major mosaic is of Medusa, the god with hair of snakes, laid out on the floor. Look out for the elaborate drinking vessel at the corners of the mosaic floor of Casa de Baco (Bacchus’ house, god of wine).

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