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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Château du Verger au Coq, located in Saint-Germain-sur-Ille en Ille-et-Vilaine, is a 17th and 18th century building marked by an elongated architecture composed of three bodies of buildings aligned. The central body, dated 1737, reflects the style of the houses of the Rennes parliamentarians, while the older chapel houses a 17th-century marble and tufted altarpiece, classified as historical monuments. The estate, surrounded by an English park, also includes commons and a porch giving access to a closed courtyard.

The castle had several influential owners: it belonged to the Le Coq families (XIVth–XVth centuries) and then to the Thierry, seigneurs du Bois Orcant, before being acquired in the 17th century by Claude de Marboeuf, president of the Parliament of Brittany. In 1796, the grandfather of General Georges Boulanger, a Rennes merchant, bought it as a national property. In the 19th century, it passed into the hands of the family of Coniac, still owner today. The site has been listed as historical monuments since 1988 for its chapel and southern façade.

The chapel, vaulted and decorated with a modillon cornice, as well as the west pavilion, probably from the seventeenth century, bear witness to the successive construction phases. The central body, built by Pierre Marot, Count of the Garaye, bears the date of 1737 on his pediment. General Boulanger lived there in the 19th century, adding a national historic dimension to this Breton monument, a symbol of the architectural and social evolution of the region.

The English park and outbuildings, organized around a courtyard accessible by a porch, complete this complex that combines residential function and prestige. The presence of a altarpiece attributed to the Lavalois workshop in Corbineau underlines the artistic importance of the place, while its inscription in 1988 devotes its heritage value. Today, the castle remains a private property, mixing aristocratic heritage and republican history.

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