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Origin and history

Fort de la Latte, or Château de la Roche Goyon, is an emblematic military building built in the 14th century by Étienne III Gouyon, seigneur of Matignon. Located on a rocky cape near Cape Fréhel, it dominates Saint-Malo Bay and the Channel. Its strategic location, naturally protected by cliffs, made it a checkpoint for commercial routes between Saint-Malo, Normandy and the Channel Islands. Local materials (granite, sandstone of cliffs, wood of medieval forests) facilitated its construction, while its isolated position made it almost inaccessible by the sea.

The castle was the scene of significant events: besieged in 1379 by Bertrand Du Guesclin during the return from exile of Duke John IV, then taken over and partially burned in 1597 during the Wars of Religion. Abandoned after this episode, he regained his strategic importance under Louis XIV, which made him bastion in the seventeenth century. Colbert de Croissy described it in 1665 as a ruined castle, composed of four towers and a central dungeon, uninhabited except a concierge. The owner, the Gouyon de Matignon family, gave him to the state in 1689.

Ranked a Historic Monument in 1925 and 1934, the fort was restored from 1931 by Frédéric Joüon des Longrais, who revived its defensive elements: drawbridges, barbacan, mâchicoulis dungeon, and cannon batteries. Archaeological excavations revealed buried medieval remains, such as a guard tower under eight metres of embankment. The site, open to the public, now houses a 17th century chapel, a 20,000-litre tank, and traces of past assaults, such as the impact of pellets on the dungeon.

The Fort de la Latte was also used as a setting for films and series, while remaining a symbol of the links between Brittany and the Principality of Monaco: the Goyon-Matignon family, originally from the castle, is indeed ancestor of the princely family. In 2012 and 2025, Prince Albert II of Monaco made private visits there, celebrating this common heritage. The site retains unique elements, such as a carved tetramorph (angel, lion, eagle, beef) or a legendary menhir associated with Gargantua.

Electricity was installed there only in 2001, highlighting its continued isolation. Today, the fort combines military history, medieval architecture and spectacular landscapes, attracting visitors for its reconstructed drawbridge, its bowling oven, and its legends, such as that of the fake drawbridge intended to trap enemy ships.

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