Guérande

Guérande Gwenrann
Flag of Brittany
Guérande
Location within Pays de la Loire region  Guérande
Administration
Country	France
Region	Pays de la Loire
Department	Loire-Atlantique
Arrondissement	Saint-Nazaire
Canton	Guérande
Mayor	Christophe Priou (2008–2014)
Statistics
Elevation	0–57 m (0–187 ft)
Land area1	81.44 km2 (31.44 sq mi)
Population2	15,356  (2007)
- Density	189 /km2 (490 /sq mi)
Website	www.ville-guerande.fr
1 French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.
2 Population without double counting: residents of multiple communes (e.g., students and military personnel) only counted once.

Guérande (Breton: Gwenrann) is a medieval town located in the département of Loire-Atlantique in western France. The inhabitants are so-called Guérandais, for men, and Guérandaise, for women.

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.

Since 2004, the medieval town of Guerande has been a member of the national network of 120 towns Ville et Pays d'Art et d'Histoire (Towns and Regions of Art and History). The fortified wall of Guerande is one of the best preserved and complete in France. Its circumference reaches 1,333 meters.

Geography

Location

The main towns around Guérande are Saint-Nazaire and Nantes on the East side ( 19 km (11.81 mi) and 80 km (49.71 mi) away), and Vannes (70 km (43.50 mi) 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's 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 a urban district, 1 out of 9 forming the urban area of Saint-Nazaire.

Guérande in figures : -Population : 15,356 inhab. (census 2007) -Land area : 8,144 hectares -32 towns and villages, the biggest ones are Saillé, Clis, Careil and La Madeleine -2000 hectares of salt marshes

History

Prehistory

About half of the remaining megalithic monuments of the Département Loire-Atlantique, is located on the Peninsula, which makes it an important place for Prehistory.

Antiquity

At the end of the Iron Age, the Peninsula was occupied by 2 tribes : the Vénètes, in the North, with the river Vilaine as a frontier, and the Namnètes, further South, whose frontier was the Loire river. The Peninsula represented an important crossroads for those tribes, as it was surrounded by waterways. One of those waterways was the river Vilaine, used by the tribes Redones and Vénètes. The Loire river was used by the tribes Namnètes and Pictons, and the Atlantic Ocean was used by the tribes Vénètes and by the Greeks.

Middle Ages

During Middle Ages, the town has a very rich history, full of important events. It was the capital of the Pays Guérandais, an ancient region of the Duchy of Brittany.

In 1343 during breton War of Succession, following the destruction inflicted on Guérande by troops commanded by Charles of Blois, Jean of Montfort 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 artillery developments. It was not until 1488, or 145 years later, that these ramparts, by then complete, were inaugurated during the reign of Duke François II (father of Anne of Brittany), a few months before his death.

At the end of the breton War of Succession, the treaty's signature was signed in Guerande in 1365. This treaty put an end at the war between Charles of Blois (and his wife Joanna of Penthièvre) and the next duke John IV. Then a second treaty was signed in 1381 by John IV and Charles VI, king of France. 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) and ten towers.

Modern times

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 a part of French Kingdom.

During XVIIth century and XVIIIth century, the city was transformed, with the bourgeois houses in granite replacing the houses of the XVth century and XVIth century. In 1686, at the Saint-Aubin public place, a new building was built called Les Halles; it was notable for an auditorium in the floor. These mansions and these houses represent about 50 % of the buildings visible built today in the sector intra muros.

Breton language

In 2008, 2.02% of the children attended the bilingual schools in primary education.

Twin towns

• Dinkelsbühl — Germany
• Almagro — Spain
• Dolgellau — Wales
• Castro Marim — Portugal

Heritage

Guerande map, vieille ville

The medieval town

The ramparts (XV-XVI)

Listed building in 1877.

• The surrounding wall: This surrounding wall strengthened by Guérande is one of the rare cities medieval to have to preserve its ramparts in its entirety. It is also one the best the preserved by France. It was little reshaped since its phase of main construction (in the XVth century) and little "restored" in the XIXth century... It includes at present 10 towers, 4 doors and a poterne (opened to the XIXth century), connected by a curtain, on a 1,434 kilometer length (for comparison: Quoted from Carcassonne, 1,250 km (776.71 mi) 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 begins to build a rampart from the next year in 1343. The works will last more than one and a half century.

Saint-Michel gate

The name of 4 doors are:

• La porte Saint-Michel - the main gate: Originally, the door was occupied by the captain of city, that is the representative of the authority of the duke of Brittany in this city. But further to the fastening of Brittany with the kingdom of France in 1532, the captain of city will leave his place to the governor. The French Revolution will chase away of Guérande his last governor and will settle a prison in the door Saint Michel. The building not being adapted to this function, the municipality will settle his city hall afterward. Even there, the building becomes fast too small and unsuitable. The city hall will leave finally its place to the museum of Friends de Guérande, established in 1928, which groups includes an interesting collection of headgears and traditional costumes, as well as archaeological collections and the Treasury of the Collegiate church
• La porte Vannetaise (XIIIth century)
• La porte de Saillé (XVIth 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. We can also found:

• Ditch along a large part of walls.
• Boulevard in front of Saint-Michel gate.

The Saint Aubin's Church (XV-XVI)

Listed building in 1853.

One of the main site of interest of the medieval town.

The history of this building is complex, the archaeological researches made in the XIXth century then on three peripheral places during reorganizations realized these last years raise only partially the composed questions.

Others monuments

• Notre-Dame la Blanche Church. Listed building in 1910. Built in Gothic style in the XIVth century under Jean de Montfort, it is the oldest building of the medieval city.

• Saint-Jean Church

Monuments of suburds

• Ursuline's convent

• The mill of devil

Natural sites

The salt marshes

The salterns of Guérande is a swamp of salt water about 1 700 hectares.

Certain parts of swamps and "Traict" are classified in Nature reserve (major stage for migratory birds) or under the control of the Conservatoire du Littoral. Traict and swamps are classified site Natura on 2000. These swamps are also registered since 1971 on the list of the wet zones to be protected from the Convention of Ramsar.

The salterns of Guérande, include two salicoles ponds:

• The pond of Guérande: the biggest and the most known between Guérande and the peninsula of Croisic, on Traict
• The pond of Mès, more modest, to Mesquer. It is the pond salicole most in the North of Europe.

They are a part of salterns of the Atlantic Ocean, situated for more than three quarters of them, of the Gironde and the peninsula of Quiberon.

We speak about salterns because it is the place where the salt workers collect approximately 15 000 tons of cooking salt a year for approximately 300 tons of flower of salt. This last one benefits from a quality charter, and the sea salt from Guérande, from a red Label. Besides, these salterns are classified "remarkable Sites of the taste".

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  Salt marshes

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  Mulon de sel

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  Salt marshes

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  Salt marshes from above

The natural park of la Brière

Main article: Brière

Brière is a territory of 490 km² (189.19 sq mi) of which 170 km² (65.64 sq mi) of wet zones. Its swamp of brackish water called The Swamp of Grande Brière covers to him only 70 km² (27.03 sq mi). It is 21 municipalities which are a part of this territory and of which Guérande is a member.

In a will of conservation of this environment, the regional natural reserve of Brière was create October 16, 1970 (revised on June 6, 2001).

It was one of the first natural parks to be listed as a “Parc Naturel Régional” in 1970.

Villages of Guerande

Clis

This small village between Guerande and La Turballe present many typical houses of salt workers. There are many monuments of interest like Sainte-Catherine church (built during the XVth century), Requer's cross (listed building in 1944) or also rests of a old roman wall.

Saillé

This village is situated in the heart of salt marshes. Like Clis, there are many typical houses of salt workers.

Careil

This village is famous for his castle.

La Madeleine

It is a typical village of the swamps of La Brière.

Cultural references

The Balzac novel Béatrix is set in Guérande, concerning Calyste, son of the baron de Guenic, and his relations with characters based on George Sand, Franz Liszt, and Marie d'Agoult.

See also

Articles

• La Baule - Guérande Peninsula
• Communes of the Loire-Atlantique department
• Brière
• Parc naturel régional de Brière

External links

• http://www.ot-guerande.fr/accueil.html?L=2/ Tourist center of Guerande
• http://www.ville-guerande.fr/ Web site of Hall Town (in French)

References

• INSEE commune file