Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

An Ti Kozh, literally "the old house" in Breton, is a double canonical house built in 1505 in the historic centre of Rennes, at 3 rue Saint-Guillaume. It was built for two canons of the nearby cathedral, one dedicated to Saint Michael and the other to Saint Sebastian, as evidenced by the sculptures of the entrance doors. Its corbelled architecture, typical of the modern era, reflects a tax trick: the overhanging floors allowed to enlarge the living space without paying tax on the floor.

The popular tradition associated this house for a long time with Bertrand Du Guesclin, a famous connétable of France, but sources like Adolphe Orin (1892) demonstrated that it was built two centuries after his death. Ranked a historic monument since 20 July 1923, it once housed the Ty-Coz restaurant, until a fire in 1994. Its façade bears an inscription in Breton: "TI-KOZ AMAÑ E KOMZER BREZONEG" ("Here we speak Breton"), highlighting its cultural anchor.

Architecturally, An Ti Kozh is distinguished by its three floors in corbellation, its carved beams and its two statues of wooden saints under the first floor. Private property, it illustrates the medieval heritage of Rennes, mixing religious history, popular legend and Breton linguistic heritage. Its present name, An Ti Kozh, perpetuates this memory, while its location behind the cathedral strengthens its link with the clergy of the sixteenth century.

External links