Who built the Château des ducs de Bretagne, and when
The timeline
- 1207 — Guy de Thouars, Duke of Brittany, builds the first castle on the site.
- 1466 — Duke François II, the last independent duke of Brittany, begins the castle standing today: granite blocks and courses of schist, seven towers, roughly 500 metres of curtain wall.
- Anne de Bretagne — his daughter continues the work, adding the loggias and the spire over the main stair tower, then marries two kings of France. That is the marriage that ends Brittany’s independence.
- April 1598 — Henri IV promulgates the Edict of Nantes at the château.
- 17 July 1800 — a rotten ceiling in the Tour des Espagnols gives way onto the powder store; the explosion kills around sixty people and wrecks part of the castle.
- 1840 — classified a monument historique.
- 1997 to 2007 — restoration, three of those years closed to the public. The Musée d’histoire de Nantes reopens on 9 February 2007.
Why the outside and the inside do not match
François II was building two things at once: a fortress that could survive a French army, and a residence fit for a duke who did not intend to be anybody’s subject. So the wall is black granite and the palace behind it is white tufa, flamboyant Gothic with Renaissance touches. You can read the whole political argument of the fifteenth century by standing in the gateway and looking one way, then the other. The rest of what survives is listed on what to see inside.
Nantes was the historic capital of the Duchy of Brittany and now sits in the Pays de la Loire region, which is why “is Nantes in Brittany” is still a live argument in local bars. Both answers are defensible. Pick one and commit.
None of this is written on the walls, which is the honest case for a guide. The two-hour private walking tour covers Nantes from its Celtic origins to its present as an experimental, artistic city, and its time as capital of Brittany; it rates 4.8 from 28 reviews and is the higher-priced of the walking options. Raymond from the United Kingdom called it an “excellent 2-hour tour of Nantes with a very good guide who gave an enthusiastic history of the city.” Compare it with the others on guided tours, or with the unguided versions on the ways to visit page.
Frequently asked questions
Who built the Château des ducs de Bretagne?
Duke François II, the last independent duke of Brittany, began the present castle in 1466, and his daughter Anne de Bretagne continued it. An earlier castle was built on the site in 1207 by Guy de Thouars.
How old is the castle?
The site has been fortified since 1207 and the castle you visit was begun in 1466. It was classified a monument historique in 1840 and restored between 1997 and 2007, reopening as a museum on 9 February 2007.
What happened at the castle in 1800?
On 17 July 1800 a rotten ceiling in the Tour des Espagnols gave way onto the powder store below. The explosion killed around sixty people and wrecked part of the castle: you can still trace it on the rampart walk.
Was the Edict of Nantes signed here?
Henri IV promulgated the Edict of Nantes at the château in April 1598, which is the single best-known event to have happened inside these walls. More on whether the visit is worth it.