The castle | ©Lanzonnet / CC-BY-SAThis castle was famous marquis de Pontcallec’s headquarters, during his renowned conspiracy!
It looked like a real impregnable fortress. An armourer lived here, making bayonets, stocking cartridges and powder!
To the East, a vast pond, and to the West, the sinuous river Scorff. And surrounding the stronghold, a huge and dark forest…
In the 16th century, the place belonged to Malestroit family: Anne de Malestroit married René Papin, lord de La Tévinière.
Their daughter Marie married Charles de Guer in 1598. King of France Louis XIV raised the land of Pontcallec to a marquisate for their son Alain de Guer, in 1657.
And Alain was… our famous marquis de Pontcallec’s grand-dad!
Protestants besieged the fortress in 1591, then Catholics troops seized it 3 years later.
Famous marquis de Pontcallec (the plotter!) was born in the castle.
After his arrest and his sentence to death, the estate was seized between 1720 and 1810, and a big fire completely destroyed it in 1796.
Then, the castle fell to the Cossé-Brissac in the 19th century: they entirely re-raised it in 1882.
Today, Pontcallec houses a religious community: the Dominicaines du Saint-Esprit nuns.
So, we can’t visit it, only make a stroll in the surrounding woods and in the park, in summer.