Excavations at the Château Lagorce, a former 18th century private mansion in Vannes, have revealed traces of the town’s medieval castle. -Château de l’Hermine-
Vannes is located in the Morbihan department of Brittany in north western France. In medieval times, the town served as the seat of a principality or kingdom known as the country of Vannes or Gwereg.
Recent excavations by archaeologists from the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (Inrap) have found traces of the town’s medieval castle.
In the first phase of the excavations, the researchers carried out a study in the courtyard of the region, where they uncovered two layers of the castle’s defensive wall and a moat located 13 meters deep from street level.
The castle was built around 1380 by Jean IV, Duke of Brittany, Count of Montfort and 7th Earl of Richmond. The castle, known as the Château de l’Hermine (Castle of Hermine), was built to defend the Duke’s central authority over his duchy and the town of Vannes.
Surviving stonework shows that the castle had three to four floors and several staircases, one of which is described as “remarkably preserved,” according to the publication. The team also found architectural features such as markings, toilets and drainage pipes on the various worked stones that workers used to follow a building.
A search of the latrines uncovered artifacts of castle life from the 15th and 16th centuries, including coins, knives, tiles, wooden bowls, utensils and a few pieces of jewelry. Due to the soil conditions, objects such as pieces of clothing, shoe buckles, pins, rings and ball padlocks also survived.
The excavations also uncovered a mill connected to the residential part of the castle, where a large water well was powered by water passing through a canal, and the remains of a bridge connecting the castle to the town.