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Origin and history

The castle of Coëtbo, located in Guer in Morbihan, has its origins in the seventeenth century, when the royal architect Pierre Hureau rebuilt it on the site of an ancient fortress destroyed during the League's wars. This project was part of a first campaign of work around 1620, initiated by Jacques I of Pontmenard, before being enriched between 1685 and 1695 under Julien de Marnière, whose coats of arms still adorn the honorary staircase. The medieval remains then disappear in favor of an elegant house body, flanked by square pavilions and communes including a chapel and a dovecote.

During the French Revolution, Coëtbo became a strategic headquarters for the caulian armies of Brittany after Savenay's defeat in 1793. This military role contrasts with its subsequent use, marked by its acquisition in the 19th century by Auguste Carouge, Mayor of Guer, then by Marie-Hélène and Albert Kfouri in the 20th century. The castle, classified as a historical monument in 1993, thus preserves the traces of its architectural transformations (portal and common added in the 18th century) and its turbulent history, between Rennes parliamentary nobility and counter-revolutionary commitments.

The present building is the result of three major campaigns: the postwar reconstruction of Religion (circa 1620), the interior and exterior developments under the Marnière (1685–95), and the addition of the portal with its commons in the eighteenth century. The successive families — Le Borgne (XVth century), Avril, Gallery (XVIe), Troussier, then de Marnière until 1792 — shaped this place, today protected for its architectural ensemble (logis, chapel, dovecote, terraced gardens) and its testimony of the political upheavals of Brittany.

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