Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The manor of the Placelière derives its name from Thomas Rapion de la Placelière, captain of the Compagnie des Indes and grandfather of the Viscounte Céleste de Chateaubriand. The estate was acquired in the 18th century by Luc O'Shiell, Irish slave shipowner of Nantes, who married his three daughters to wealthy traders. When he died in 1745, the mansion was bought by Guillaume Grou, another slave shipowner, who had him rebuilt in 1747. The site then became a reception centre for the Haitian elite, including Irish families living in the area.

In 1776 the mansion welcomed Benjamin Franklin, then on a diplomatic mission to the United States, illustrating his role in the networks of influence of the time. Destroyed during the Vendée War, it was rebuilt in 1808 by Baron Charles de Richard de Castelnau. In the 19th century, the estate passed into the hands of several families, including the Briaudeau, before being transformed into a hospital in the 20th century. From 1919 to 2009, he served as a retirement home and then as a rehabilitation centre for the CHU in Nantes, with modern extensions added in 1964.

Since 2013, the mansion has been home to the École Saint-Martin, a traditionalist institution for boys run by the Priestly Fraternity Saint-Pie-X. A new chapel was built there to replace the former, disappeared. The park preserves an oak several hundred years ago, a witness to the site's transformations. The domain, marked by its past linked to the slave trade and the aristocracy of the Netherlands, now embodies religious and educational appropriation.

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