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Origin and history

The Gabriel Hotel is an architectural complex of the eighteenth century located in the Enclosure of the Port of Lorient, designed by Jacques Gabriel for the Perpetual Company of India. Ordered as headquarters for merchandise sales, it consists of two symmetrical pavilions surrounding a court of honour, extended by a French garden. The buildings, destroyed during World War II, were reconstructed identically between 1956 and 1959, preserving their classic style and original design.

The Compagnie des Indes, founded in 1719 by John Law, chose Lorient as its operational base, requiring appropriate infrastructure. In 1732, the transfer of sales from Nantes to Lorient required the construction of new stores. Jacques Gabriel, renowned architect who had worked in Versailles, proposed several projects before a sober model was retained in 1733. The first stone was laid in September 1733, but budgetary constraints reduced the original ambition, limiting construction to the two current pavilions, completed in 1742.

The pavilions, used for annual sales of up to £25 million tournaments, lost their commercial function with the dissolution of the Company in 1769. Recaptured by the Royal Navy in 1770, they housed the General Staff for nearly two centuries, serving in particular as a seat in the Maritime Prefecture from 1808. During World War II, the Germans made it a command post, causing their destruction in 1943. They were restored between 1956 and 1959 and then welcomed the National Navy until 2000.

Since 2008, the city of Lorient has installed its municipal archives and heritage animation services. The ground floor of the West Wing, open to the public, offers exhibition, documentation and workshop spaces, while Le Lieu gallery adds in 2014. The Gabriel Hotel, classified as a historic monument in 1930, remains a symbol of Lorient's maritime and commercial history, while playing a contemporary cultural role, especially at the Interceltic Festival.

The architecture of the pavilions, typical of the Louis XV style, is distinguished by granite and limestone facades, decorated with mascarons representing Athena (desses of war and artisans) and Hermès (god of commerce). The interiors, redesigned after the war, retain elements such as the woodwork of the admiral's cabinet. The French garden, structured by geometric beds and a central water room, completes this monumental ensemble, today owned by the commune.

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