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Origin and history

The castle of Kercadio, located in the town of Erdeven in Morbihan, is attested from 1427 as property of Alain de Kercadio. This closed-yard manor house incorporates a fortified house body from the years 1480-1490, a vestige of one of the last Breton residence dungeons, as well as a 16th century chapel. Larlan's family, lords of Kercadio and Rochefort, owned it until the beginning of the 18th century, guarding the coast of Quiberon at Étel.

In 1703 the estate moved to Jean-Louis Gouyon de Vaudurand (1702-1780), bishop of Saint-Pol-de-Léon, who died there in 1780. The castle was rebuilt in the 18th century, with a central house with classic woodwork and symmetrical commons. Sold as a national property at the Revolution, the property became a farm until 1976, before being registered with the Historical Monuments in 1998 for its architectural ensemble (logis, commons, ruins of the tower and chapel).

The old house-tour, dated from the end of the 16th or early 17th century, illustrates the defensive arrangements linked to the League wars, with musket murderers and a schauguette. The communes, built in the 17th century, frame a courtyard closed by a hop-of-loup wall. The estate also included an orangery and a dovecote, now disappeared, visible on the cadastral plans of 1811 and 1845.

Among the personalities who had stayed at the castle, the Duke of Penthièvre, Louis de Bourbon (1725-1793), grandson of Louis XIV, was attested in 1746. The site, marked by its seigneurial and religious history, reflects the architectural and social evolutions of Brittany, from medieval wars to modern times.

The 1998 inscription covers the entire mansion, including 18th century woodwork, the ruins of the chapel and the tower, as well as the fence walls. The castle, now partially in ruins, bears witness to the transition between the medieval mansion and the classical aristocratic residence, while retaining rare defensive elements in Brittany.

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