Château des ducs de Bretagne - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

This article includes information translated from the Wikipedia article Château des ducs de Bretagne

The Château des ducs de Bretagne (Castle of the Dukes of Brittany) is a large fortified château

Castle

A castle is a type of fortified structure built in Europe and the Middle East during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars debate the scope of the word castle, but usually consider it to be the private fortified residence of a lord or noble...

located in the city of Nantes

Nantes

Nantes is a city in western France, located on the Loire River, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the 6th largest in France, while its metropolitan area ranks 8th with over 800,000 inhabitants....

in the Loire-Atlantique

Loire-Atlantique

Loire-Atlantique is a department on the west coast of France named after the Loire River and the Atlantic Ocean.-History:...

département of France; it served as the centre of the historical province of Brittany

Brittany

Brittany is a cultural and administrative region in the north-west of France. Previously a kingdom and then a duchy, Brittany was united to the Kingdom of France in 1532 as a province. Brittany has also been referred to as Less, Lesser or Little Britain...

until its separation in 1941. It is located on the right bank of the Loire

Loire

Loire is an administrative department in the east-central part of France occupying the River Loire's upper reaches.-History:Loire was created in 1793 when after just 3½ years the young Rhône-et-Loire department was split into two. This was a response to counter-Revolutionary activities in Lyon...

, which formerly fed its ditches. It was the residence of the Dukes of Brittany between the 13th and 16th centuries, subsequently becoming the Breton

Brittany

residence of the French Monarchy.

The castle has been listed as a monument historique
Monument historique
A monument historique is a National Heritage Site of France. It also refers to a state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building or a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, or gardens, bridges, and other structures, because of their...

by the French Ministry of Culture since 1862. Today the castle houses the Nantes History Museum.

Restoration

Starting in the 1990s, the town of Nantes undertook a massive programme of restoration and repairs to return the site to its former glory as an emblem of the history of Nantes and Brittany. Following 15 years of works and three years of closure to the public, it was reopened on 9 February 2007 and is now a popular tourist attraction.

The restored edifice now includes the new Nantes History Museum, installed in 32 of the castle rooms. The museum presents more than 850 objects of collection with the aid of multimedia devices. The castle and the museum try to offer a modern vision of the heritage by presenting the past, the present and the future of the city. Night-time illuminations at the castle further reinforce the revival of the site.

The 500 metre round walk on the fortified ramparts provides views not just of the castle buildings and courtyards but also of the town.

Seven sequences of the museum

The Castle, Nantes and Brittany back to the 17th century
Nantes, daughter of the river and the ocean
Commerce and the black gold in the 18th century
Nantes in Revolution
A colonial and industrial port (1815–1940)
A new city takes shape (1940–1990)
A great Atlantic city, today and tomorrow

The exhibition ends with a vision of the city, a multimedia creation by a contemporary artist, occupying the entire area of the 32nd room.
Pierrick Sorin is the first guest artist.

The illuminated Castle

The night-lighting brings out the architectural complexity of the site within an urban context. The illumination was designed by Sylvie Sieg and Pierre Nègre of the Atelier Lumière and won the Light Originator Price of the Lumiville Trophy 2007.

External links

Sources

Ministry of Culture database, accessed 28 July 2007

Gallery

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