Vannes
Vannes ( Breton Gwened ) is a French town with 52 784 inhabitants (as of January 1, 2011 ) and the capital of the department of Morbihan in the Brittany region.
Geography
Vannes is located just north of the coast of the Gulf of Morbihan. Through the town, the river Marle, which opens, subsequently, in the inland sea flows.
History
Vannes goes back to the Gallo-Roman city Darioritum. In 560, Clotaire I. here wins against the army of Bretons Konomor under whose protection Chlothar Chram son had gone. Nominoë, in the first half of the 9th century, Count of Vannes, some Bretons considered the first king of Brittany. In Vannes in 1532 ended with the meeting of the French king Francis I with the Breton stands, the independence of the Duchy of Brittany, and from 1675 Vannes was the seat of the Breton Parliament. In addition, the city is in the 5th century seat of a bishopric.
Since 1790, the city is the administrative center of the canton of the same name, in 1982 it was replaced by the division into three separate cantons chef -lieu of Vannes Centre, Vannes Vannes Ouest and Est.
As of June 1940 Vannes was occupied by troops of the Wehrmacht. On August 1, 1944, the Battle of Brittany began. On August 6, conquered troops of the 4th Armored Division Vannes; it helped them to the Resistance.
Population
Traffic
About the European Route 60 ( N 165 ) Vannes is connected to the international road network. In the station of Vannes keep the TGV trains between Paris and Quimper ( TGV Atlantique).
Attractions
The entire city is worth seeing. But particularly the city wall and the laundry. A few kilometers away is the small town of Elven, in the municipality of Vannes. Here you will find a remarkable castle ruins, which is used in the summer as an open air theater.
- Cathedral of Vannes
- The Château de l' Hermine: After his return from exile in England in 1379 Duke Jean IV Vannes made it his residence. He built a city wall with which he doubled the area of the city, as well as a castle, the Château de l' Hermine ( ermine castle after his heraldic animal ) and established his court here and the State Council issued a. The stands ( États ) met here 19 times, the Court had its headquarters here until 1491/99, as well as the Parlement, which moved in 1533 to Nantes. The present buildings date from the year 1795. They were hosts successively the Trésorerie Générale, the Military School and the Faculty of Law and the Institute today culturel de Bretagne.
- Place Maurice - Marchais: The Town Hall in the Italian Renaissance style (19th century) presents a copy of the Hôtel de Ville in Paris dar. About the Town Hall clock in the pediment stands a small tower with carillon. On the north side of the square, which belongs to the former Jesuit College baroque chapel St- Yves ( 17th century). Inside is a Jesuit founder Ignatius of Loyola consecrated altar which is surrounded by black marble columns with Corinthian capitals.
Events
Since 1975 takes place in September between Auray and Vannes in economics and road running Auray - Vannes instead.
Twinning
There are twinned with
Likewise Vannes maintains friendly relations with Wałbrzych in Poland and Baroueli in Mali.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Joseph Abeille (1673-1756), architect
- Mathieu Berson ( born 1980 ), football player
- Louise Bourgoin ( born 1981 ), actress
- Francis I (Brittany ) ( 1414-1450 ), Duke of Brittany
- Yves Coppens ( born 1934 ), paleontologist and paleoanthropologist
- Louis -François Duplessis de Mornay (1663-1741), Capuchin and third Bishop of Quebec in New France
- Gabriel Fabre (1774-1858) General of the Infantry
- Paul César Helleu (1859-1927), painter, etcher and illustrator
- Serge Latouche ( born 1940 ), economist and philosopher
- Bertrand Layec (born 1965 ), football referee
- Alain Resnais (1922-2014), Film Director
- Claude- Michel Schönberg ( b. 1944 ), musical composer
- Benoît Vaugrenard ( b. 1982 ), professional cyclist
- Daniel Yvinec ( born 1963 ), jazz musician, record producer and author
Gallery
Washhouse
Old Town and Cathedral
Half-timbered houses, place Henri IV