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Origin and history

The castle of the Hermine, built by John IV in the 1380s in Vannes, served as a residence for the Dukes of Brittany. It included a house body flanked by two massive towers, leaning on the fortified enclosure of the city. The lower courtyard was home to ducal stables, a chapel (the Lices), and services related to the Ducal Hotel, revealed by archaeological excavations in 2000. After 1460, the transfer of the ducal administration to Nantes led to the gradual abandonment of the site.

In the 17th century, the castle was ceded to the city of Vannes in 1697, and its stones were reused to restore the ramparts or build the Billy wharf. The lower courtyard, which had been in service since 1637, hosted the mansion of the Sieur de Rosmadec (1643–49), built on the foundations of the old 15th century stables. The two towers, which had already been damaged, were finally destroyed in 1798 by Julien Lagorce, who erected a hotel-restaurant closed in 1803.

Acquired by the State in 1876, the site became the Artillery School of the 11th Army Corps, undergoing modifications (surmountation, interior redevelopment). From 1926 to 1974, it will house the General Treasury of Morbihan, before being transformed into a law school and then a cultural place by the city of Vannes after 1976. Only remains remain in the cellars, as the base of a poterne between the original towers.

The present building, built on the site of the castle, has an elongated plan with a central body and side pavilions. Its ordered facade (11 spans) and long-paned roofs broken in slate date back to the 18th to 19th centuries. Two wooden staircases with wrought iron ramp distribute the floors, while the primitive cylindrical tower, inscribed in the Historical Monuments since 1931, recalls the former ducal fortress.

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