Château de Pontivy

Pontivy, France

According to legend, Pontivy was founded in 685 AD by an English monk called Ivy who built a wooden bridge across the Blavet, giving the town its name – Pont d’Ivy. The town really began to develop in the 12th century when Viscount Rohan settled there and in the 14th century it became the political and administrative capital of the viscounty.

The main site in Pontivy is its château, which overlooks the River Blavet a short walk from the town centre. The present castle was built in 1485 by Viscount Rohan, whose aristocratic line dates back to 1120. The Rohan family seat has seen plenty of action during its 500-year history including being besieged during the Duchy of Brittany War of Independence in 1488 and taken over by Catholic forces during the French Wars of Religion in 1589. The château, which retains many original features, is open to the public and often stages art exhibitions.

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Address

Rue de Lourmel 1, Pontivy, France
See all sites in Pontivy

Details

Founded: 1485
Category: Castles and fortifications in France

More Information

www.brittanytourism.com

Rating

4/5 (based on Google user reviews)

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User Reviews

Nazila Mais (4 months ago)
A Delightful Sunday Morning in the Countryside. A must see
srgiorf (6 months ago)
Great castle, certainly more interesting when COVID-19 will be finished to get access to indoors.
Tamer Eskandar (12 months ago)
Very nice historic place to visit. Unfortunately you can't go in cos the doors are locked. You could do a Photoshoot for wedding pictures , I have seen people doing that. Can't go wrong if you visited and walked around if you're in Pontivy.
Dayanna Lerma Velasco (2 years ago)
It is a beautiful place, right now it is closed to the public but it is really gorgeous, in fact it has a natural space with a lot of trees where you can go to think, reflect and do a picnic ^^
T0MT0M GAMING (2 years ago)
The castle looked superb from the out side, unfortunately the entrance to the public was closed due to refurbishment
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Glimmingehus

Glimmingehus is the best preserved medieval stronghold in Scandinavia. It was built 1499-1506, during an era when Scania formed a vital part of Denmark, and contains many defensive arrangements of the era, such as parapets, false doors and dead-end corridors, 'murder-holes' for pouring boiling pitch over the attackers, moats, drawbridges and various other forms of death traps to surprise trespassers and protect the nobles against peasant uprisings. The lower part of the castle's stone walls are 2.4 meters (94 inches) thick and the upper part 1.8 meters (71 inches).

Construction was started in 1499 by the Danish knight Jens Holgersen Ulfstand and stone-cutter-mason and architect Adam van Düren, a North German master who also worked on Lund Cathedral. Construction was completed in 1506.

Ulfstand was a councillor, nobleman and admiral serving under John I of Denmark and many objects have been uncovered during archeological excavations that demonstrate the extravagant lifestyle of the knight's family at Glimmingehus up until Ulfstand's death in 1523. Some of the most expensive objects for sale in Europe during this period, such as Venetian glass, painted glass from the Rhine district and Spanish ceramics have been found here. Evidence of the family's wealth can also be seen inside the stone fortress, where everyday comforts for the knight's family included hot air channels in the walls and bench seats in the window recesses. Although considered comfortable for its period, it has also been argued that Glimmingehus was an expression of "Knighthood nostalgia" and not considered opulent or progressive enough even to the knight's contemporaries and especially not to later generations of the Scanian nobility. Glimmingehus is thought to have served as a residential castle for only a few generations before being transformed into a storage facility for grain.

An order from Charles XI to the administrators of the Swedish dominion of Scania in 1676 to demolish the castle, in order to ensure that it would not fall into the hands of the Danish king during the Scanian War, could not be executed. A first attempt, in which 20 Scanian farmers were ordered to assist, proved unsuccessful. An additional force of 130 men were sent to Glimmingehus to execute the order in a second attempt. However, before they could carry out the order, a Danish-Dutch naval division arrived in Ystad, and the Swedes had to abandon the demolition attempts. Throughout the 18th century the castle was used as deposit for agricultural produce and in 1924 it was donated to the Swedish state. Today it is administered by the Swedish National Heritage Board.

On site there is a museum, medieval kitchen, shop and restaurant and coffee house. During summer time there are several guided tours daily. In local folklore, the castle is described as haunted by multiple ghosts and the tradition of storytelling inspired by the castle is continued in the summer events at the castle called "Strange stories and terrifying tales".

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