Guérande (; , ; ) is a medieval town located in the department of Loire-Atlantique, and the region of Pays de la Loire, Western France. The inhabitants are referred to as Guérandais (masculine), and Guérandaise (feminine).
The Guérande Peninsula overlooks two contrasting landscapes: the "Pays Blanc" (White Land), because of its salt marshes, and the "Pays Noir", with the Brière peat bog. The town's salt marshes have made it a renowned producer of salt, and it is the traditional source of fleur de sel, a type of garnishing salt.
Since 2004, the medieval town of Guérande has been a member of a national network of 120 towns, the Villes et Pays d'Art et d'Histoire (Towns and Regions of Art and History). The fortified wall of Guérande is one of the best preserved and complete in France. Its circumference stretches 1434 meters.
Geography Location The main towns around Guérande are Saint-Nazaire and Nantes to the East ( and away), and Vannes ( to the North).
The Guérande Peninsula is surrounded by water. It stretches out from the Atlantic Ocean (west) to the Brière Regional Nature Reserve (east), and from the river Vilaine (north) to the Loire estuary (south).
Guérande is in the heart of the peninsula called "Presqu'île guérandaise", along with other towns, such as La Baule, Le Croisic, Pornichet, Batz-sur-Mer, Le Pouliguen, or Piriac.
According to the classification established by the INSEE in 1999, Guérande is now classified as an urban district, 1 out of 9 forming the urban area of Saint-Nazaire.
Guérande in figures : -32 towns and villages, the biggest ones are Saillé, Clis, Careil and La Madeleine -2000 hectares of salt marshes
History Neolithic period
About half of the remaining megalithic monuments of the Département Loire-Atlantique, is located on the Peninsula, which makes it an important area for Prehistory. It is now known that these structures date from around 5200–2200 BC.
Antiquity
Celtic period At the end of the Iron Age, the Peninsula was occupied by 2 tribes: the Veneti, in the North, with the river Vilaine as a frontier. In 56 BC, the Veneti double-crossed Caesar and he '...put the whole of their senate to the sword, and sold the rest of the men as slaves....' (Source: Caesar, cited by Nora Chadwick, The Celts.) and the Namnetes, further South, whose frontier was the Loire river. As a seaboard people, their fortunes increased as they sided with Rome.
The Peninsula represented an important crossroads for these and other tribes, as it was surrounded by waterways. One waterway was the river Vilaine, used by the tribes Redones and Veneti. The Loire river was used by the tribes Namnetes and Pictones, and the Atlantic Ocean was used by the tribes Veneti and by Greek traders.
Gallo-Roman period The many artifacts from the Gallo-Roman age demonstrates that Guérande had been home to many groups.
3rd century The area was evangelized in the 3rd century by St. Clair, the first Bishop of Nantes.
6th century The Bretons of the prince of "Vannes" (Waroch II (577–594)) may have built the first parish. Waroch is supposed to have created a baptistery in place of the actual choir of the collegiate church "Saint-Aubin".
9th century Around 848, under the reign of Nominoe, 1st King of Brittany, the city became the head of a temporary bishopric. Salomon ("Selyfan", "Salaun", "Tudwal Mwyn Fawr", "3rd King of Brittany", "857–874",) built a canon college that was a benefit to the city's development. At the turn of the second millennium, a fortified town was built and a political and administrative organization could be established thanks to the existing castle.
10th century According to local legends, a Viking band arrived in Guerande in 919 determined to pillage the city. The Guerandais apparently took refuge in the collegiate church praying to St Aubin who apparently sent a sign giving courage to the locals who took up arms and drove out the invaders.
Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages, the town had a very rich history, with many important events. It was also the capital of the Pays Guérandais, an ancient region of the Duchy of Brittany.
14th century Sacking of Guerande In 1343 during the Breton War of Succession, Guerande was captured by Breton-French troops led by Luis de la Cerda, a commander of Charles of Blois. The former admiral used his Spanish and Genoese auxiliaries to attack the town from all sides. Without giving a quarter to the inhabitants, they engaged in frenzied plunder and did not respect even the churches, five of which were desecrated and burned, while approximately 8000 inhabitants were massacred in the streets, burned in their homes or in the Church of Saint Aubin. Charles was not impressed as Luis had exceeded the measure of his command and was made to hang on the spot twenty-four of the principal culprits.Ref 5th volume: Y Historia genealógica y heráldica de la monarquía española1 de D. Francisco Fernandez de Béthencourt, 1904 dedicated to the title of Medina Celi
Jean of Montfort, (John IV) Duke of Brittany, demanded that the town be properly protected, by improving its fortifications. Work started soon after and continued for more than a century, with the town's architecture adapted to reflect the latest developments in siege and artillery.
First Treaty of Guérande At the end of the Breton War of Succession, peace was finally concluded before the high altar of Saint Aubin, (Albinus of Angers) on Holy Saturday in 1365. In this the first Treaty of Guérande, Joanna of Penthièvre abdicated her disputed claims to the Dukedom in favour of John V of the House of Montfort. A modified form of Salic law was introduced in Brittany as a result.
Second Treaty of Guérande The second Treaty of Guérande (1381) established Brittany's neutrality in the Anglo-French conflict, and was accorded between Duke John V of Brittany and King Charles VI of France.
15th century It was not until 1488, or 145 years later, that the ramparts, by then complete, were inaugurated during the reign of Francis II, Duke of Brittany (father of Anne of Brittany), only a few months before his death. The old walled town (known in French as vieille ville) is surrounded by nearly intact ramparts and has four fortified gates (the largest of which is a 15th-century châtelet known as Porte Saint-Michel) as well as ten towers.
16th century Guérande was visited regularly by Breton rulers such as Duchess Anne of Brittany. In 1532, upon the marriage of Anne of Brittany to Charles VIII of France, Brittany (and with it the pays of Guerande) became unified with the French Kingdom.
In the late Middle Ages, the city was regularly visited by merchants from Rouen who came to buy salt.
Modern times
During the 17th and 18th centuries, the city was transformed, with bourgeois houses in granite replacing the houses of the 15th and 16th centuries. In 1686, at the Saint-Aubin public place, a new building was built called Les Halles, which was notable for its large auditorium. These mansions and houses represent about 50% of the buildings still visible today in the sector called the intra muros.
Chouannerie of 1815 The Chouannerie was a royalist uprising or counter-revolution in twelve of the western départements of France, particularly in the provinces of Brittany and Maine, against the First Republic during the French Revolution. Fighting took place around Guerande on June and July 1815 between the Chouans who attacked the town and the Government's 65th Infantry Regiment that defended it. The 150 men from the 65th line infantry regiment were entrenched behind the city walls and pushed back the Chouans without much difficulty.Tanneguy Lehideux, Combats d'un Chouan: Terrien coeur de lion, colonel de Chouans, Chevalier de Saint-Louis or La Chouannerie in Upper Brittany and Anjou, La Crèche, Geste éditions, 2009, 443 p. (ISBN 978-2-84561-509-0, notice BnF no FRBNF41454424).Louis d'Andigné, Memoirs of General d'Andigné, t. II, Plon, 1901, 434 p. (BnF notice no FRBNF34146667, read online) Aurélien Lignereux, Chouans and Vendéens against the Empire: 1815, the other Hundred-Day War, Paris, Vendémiaire, coll. "Revolution", 2015, 379 p. (ISBN 978-2-36358-187-7, notice BnF no FRBNF44432607).
World War 2 Guerande was part of the Saint-Nazaire pocket during 1944 and 1945.
Breton language In 2008, 2.02% of the children attended bilingual schools (in French and Breton) in primary education. Ofis ar Brezhoneg: Enseignement bilingue
Twin towns – sister cities
Guérande is twinned with: Almagro, Spain Castro Marim, Portugal Dinkelsbühl, Germany Dolgellau, Wales, United Kingdom
Heritage
Medieval town
Ramparts (15th–16th century)
Listed building in 1877.
The surrounding wall: This surrounding wall strengthened Guérande; it is a rare example of a medieval city which has preserved its rampart in its entirety. It is also one of the best preserved in France. Very little has been re-engineered since its main construction phase (in the 15th century), while little has been "restored" in the 19th century. The wall includes at present 10 towers, four doors and a poterne (opened to the 19th century), connected by a curtain, on a (for comparison: quoted from Carcassonne, for the internal surrounding wall). After the sack of Guérande by the troops of Louis of Spain in 1342 during the War of Succession of Brittany, the city began to build a rampart in the following year of 1343. These works would last for more than a century and a half.
The names of the four gates are: La porte Saint-Michel – the main gate: Originally, the gate was occupied by the Captain of the city, who was the representative of the authority of the Duke of Brittany in Guerande. After Brittany's unification with the Kingdom of France in 1532, the Captain of the City ceded his authority to a French Governor. During the French Revolution, however, the populace of Guérande would remove its last Governor, eventually placing a prison in the Gate of Saint Michel. The building was not suited to this function, so the municipality eventually settled the functions of city hall here. Even then, the building would become too small too fast. The city hall eventually was resited elsewhere and this building became a museum to the Friends de Guérande, established in 1928. The museum contains a collection of helmets and traditional costumes, an archaeological collection and the Treasury of the Collegiate Church. La porte Vannetaise (13th century) La porte de Saillé (16th century) La porte Bizienne – it is the most recent part of the walls.
The ramparts are not the only element of defense of the old city. Also found are: A ditch along a large portion of the walls. Boulevard in front of the Gate of Saint-Michel.
Saint Aubin's Church (15th–16th century)
Listed building in 1853.
One of the main sites of interest in the medieval town.
Very little is known about the succession of religious buildings on the site of the original baptistery built by Prince Waroch. Dedicated to Saint Aubin, Bishop of Angers in the 6th century and a native of the peninsula, the church became a collegiate church in the 9th century following the foundation of a chapter of canons attributed to King Salomon. It was rebuilt in about 1200, and the Romanesque pillars in the nave are evidence of that work.
Very badly damaged during the Breton Wars of Succession, the Collegiate Church was restored in time for the signing of the first peace treaty in 1365. Various building projects succeeded one another until the 18th century, improving and adding new features: choir and chevet (15th–16th centuries), Baroque altarpieces and stalls (17th century). But hardly had this work been completed, than the church found itself in the midst of the French Revolution. It suffered little damage, other than to the windows. However, the Revolution led to major structural changes, since, in 1792, the status of Collegiate Church was abolished and the canons exiled to Spain.