Montage of Vannes Top left: View of Ramparts Garden of Vannes and Gaillard Castle Museum; Top right: Saint Peters Cathedral; Middle left: Vieux lavoirs, old washing place; Center: Connetable Tower; Middle right: Intra Muros narrow street; Bottom left: Saint Paterne Church; Bottom right: Conleau Pier
The nameVannes comes from theVeneti, a seafaringCeltic people who lived in the south-western part ofArmorica inGaul before theRoman invasions. The region seems to have been involved in a cross channel trade for thousands of years, probably using hide boats and perhapsFerriby Boats.[4] Wheat that apparently was grown in the Middle East was part of this trade.[5] At about 150 BC the evidence of trade (such as Gallo-Belgic coins) with theThames estuary area ofGreat Britain dramatically increased.[6]
The Veneti were defeated byJulius Caesar's fleet in 56 BC in front ofLocmariaquer; many of the Veneti were then either slaughtered or sold into slavery. The Romans settled a town calledDarioritum in a location previously belonging to the Veneti. At the end of the 1st century BC, theRamparts of Vannes were established as fortifications to protect the city during major crises.
From the 5th to the 7th century, the remainingGauls were displaced or assimilated by waves of immigrantBritons fleeing theSaxon invasions of Britain. Under theBreton nameGwened (also derived from the Veneti), the town was the center of an independent principality or kingdom variously calledBro-Wened ("Vannes") orBro-Ereg ("land ofGwereg"), the latter for a prominent member of its dynasty, which claimed descent fromCaradog Strongarm. Thediocese of Vannes was erected in the 5th century. The Council of Vannes was held there in 461. The realm annexedCornouaille for a time in the early 6th century but was permanently joined withDomnonia under its king andSaint Judicaël around 635.
In 1342, Vannes was besieged four times between forces from both sides of the Breton War of Succession. The city's defending commander,Olivier IV de Clisson, was captured by the English but finally released. The French eventually executed him since they suspected him of being a traitor since the ransom was unusually low.
The appellate court theParlement of Brittany at Vannes was made a sovereign court in 1485 byDuke Francis II but was soon subordinated to the royal Paris courts.[8] After 1553 it moved to Nantes and Rennes.[9][10] It returned to Vannes from 1675 to 1690, causing a significant influx of wealthy residents, their servants, and their suppliers.[9][11]
In 1759, Vannes was used as the staging point for aplanned French invasion of Britain. A large army was assembled there, but it was never able to sail after the French naval defeat at theBattle of Quiberon Bay in November 1759.
In 1795, during theFrench Revolution, French forces based in Vannes successfully repelled a planned British-Royalistinvasion throughQuiberon.
Vannes, located on theGulf of Morbihan at the mouth of two rivers, the Marle and the Vincin, is around 100 kilometres (62 miles) northwest ofNantes and 450 kilometres (280 miles) south west of Paris. Vannes is a market town linked to the sea.
Train TheVannes railway station offers connections toQuimper,Rennes,Nantes,Paris and several regional destinations. With the fast trainTGV, the journey takes: – 30 minutes to Lorient, – 1 hour to Nantes or Rennes, – 2.5 to 4 hours to Paris. TheTransport express régional or TER is a slower train to join railway stations in the close neighborhood, such asAuray orQuestembert. There is no direct line from Vannes toSaint-Brieuc (118 km away in the north of Brittany), so the train from Vannes to Saint Brieuc goes via Rennes, which doubles the travel time and cost: it takes 2 to 3 hours to go from Vannes to Saint Brieuc by train.
Car Two highways, in the north of Vannes, provide fast connections by car: – N165: west to Lorient (58 km) and Quimper (122 km), south east to Nantes (111 km) – N166: north east to Rennes (113 km) + a network of small roads connects Vannes to smaller cities.There is no highway from Vannes to Saint-Brieuc, so the way to northern Brittany consists of small roads. The lack of highway or railway between Vannes and Saint-Brieuc (118 km north) cuts the communications between northern and southern Brittany, and limits Brittany economic performance.
Airplanes Vannes has a small airfield in the village ofMonterblanc, called Vannes-Meucon airport, or "Vannes – Golfe du Morbihan airport". It used to be a military airport, but it is now dedicated to general aviation aircraft. It belongs to Vannes Agglomeration community, the group of cities gathered around Vannes, and the main users of this airfield are Vannes flying club, the localultralight aviation club, and Vannes school of skydiving.
Bus There are 2 bus networks in Vannes:– Kicéo, proposes short travels starting from Vannes Place de la République on behalf of Vannes Agglomeration community, – CAT, propose longer travel starting from the railway station on behalf of Morbihan. So there are 2 central bus stations in Vannes: one on Place de la Libération, the other at the railway station.
Bike Vannes has a public bicycle rental program, called Vélocéo based on the same idea as the ParisVélib'.Hundreds of bicycles are available across 10 automated rental stations each with 10 to fifteen bikes/spaces.[15]Each Vélocéo service station is equipped with an automatic rental terminal and stands for bicycles.This replaces the Velocea service, which was discontinued in August 2017.[16]
Château Gaillard (medieval house now used as an archaeological museum)
Musée de la Cohue (fine arts museum)
Hôtel de Ville
Old city walls, which include:
Tour du Connétable (a large medieval tower part of the old city walls)
Château de l'Hermine (former castle, transformed into a palace in the 17th century, and a residence of the Dukes of Brittany between the 13th and 16th centuries)
Porte Calmont, medieval city gate
Porte Prison, medieval city gate
Porte Poterne, medieval city gate
Porte Saint-Jean, medieval city gate
Porte Saint-Vincent, 18th century city gate
Many timber-framed houses in the old town
"Vannes and his wife", a funny painted granite sculpture from the 15th century in front of Château Gaillard
The municipality launched a linguistic plan throughYa d'ar brezhoneg on 12 October 2007. In 2008, 7.71% of children attended the bilingual schools in primary education.[19]
InSébastien Roch, a novel byOctave Mirbeau published in 1890, Sebastien is sent to a school in Vannes, Saint-François-Xavier, where he is a victim of sexual abuse.
InSir Nigel, a novel by SirArthur Conan Doyle published in 1906, Nigel is made seneschal of the Castle of Vannes after a battle in Brittany. He does not remain in Vannes, since after winning in another battle, the Black Prince dubs him a knight and Nigel returns to England to wed the Lady Mary.
Jean-François Parot has written a series of crime fictions printed up to 2010 taking place in the 18th century, whose main character is Nicolas Le Floch, a Police Commissioner who was also educated in the school of Saint François-Xavier in Vannes, but he didn't share Sebastien Roch's misfortune. The Nicolas Le Floch novels have been adapted as a television series.
InThe Secret of the Missing Boat, a children's book byPaul Berna published in 1966 asLa Voile Rouge.
Mabel Esther Allan's bookBalconies and Blue Nets documents the life of a schoolgirl attending holiday school in Vannes
