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Origin and history

The castle of Guémené-sur-Scorff was originally built in the 11th century by Guégant, nephew of Alain Canhiart, Count of Cornwall. This first wooden building, located on a natural defensive site on the edge of the Scorff, marks the birth of the seigneury of Guémené, dependent on Porhoët County. In the 12th century, the moth was replaced by a stone castle, including dungeon and house, under the impetus of Rohan's family, which absorbed the fief. The Rohans transformed Guémené into a major seigneury in western Vannes County, comprising 15 parishes and extensive forests.

In the 13th century, major works were undertaken after the marriage of Mabile de Rohan with Robert de Beaumez, including the addition of a square tower and a stone enclosure around the city. The castle, often besieged (by the English in 1342, the Leagues in 1589), was partly rebuilt by the English between 1342 and 1354 after its destruction. In 1377 John I of Rohan and Jeanne of Navarre bought the fortress, which then passed to their son Charles, founder of the Rohan-Guémené lineage. In 1570 Charles IX erected Gemené as a principality, giving his lords the title of Princes of Gemené.

The castle, which had been renovated several times, had reached its peak in the 16th and 17th centuries before being gradually abandoned by its owners, preferring the Touraine or the royal court. Marie de Rohan turned it into a Renaissance pleasure home in the 17th century, but it fell into ruin in 1693, even serving as a stone quarry. In the 19th century, the remains were partially dismantled to build a subdivision (1927), leaving only the Prison Tower (15th century), the Rohan Gate (XVIe), and the Queen's Baths, medieval ovens attributed to Jeanne de Navarre. The latter, sold in 1927, were purchased in 2001 and relocated to a museum in 2008.

The town of Guémené-sur-Scorff, developed around the castle, became a prosperous administrative and commercial center from the Middle Ages, housing fairs, halls (destroyed in 1923), and a collegiate founded in 1529 by Marie de Rohan. Its decline began with the Revolution: the castle, transformed into a prison and then a barracks, was sold as a national good. In the 19th century, a new neoclassical town hall was built in its enclosure (1860). Today, the site preserves traces of its feudal past, such as walls and geminied doors, while the Feast of Andouille (local speciality) perpetuates its cultural heritage.

The castle is listed as a Historic Monument in 1925 for its 15th century gate and in 2016 for the Queen's Baths. These remains, associated with the medieval houses of the Grande Rue (such as the Princes' Hotel or the house of the Sénéchal), testify to the historic importance of Guémené, the former capital of Pays Pourlet and member of the Petites Cités de Charactere.

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