Bezants circuit - 1:30 on foot

1. Townhall 1 bis. The besieged fort 2. Place du bouffay 3. Auditoire 4. Rue aux anglais 5. Saint Anne’s gate 6. The cross of Sainte Anne 7. The hospital chapel 7 bis. Vestiges of the battlements 8. The pelican house 9. House of "la truie qui file" 10. Renaissance style building 11. Carved wooden door 12. 15th century style house 13. Hôtel particulier 14. The guards house 15. Saint Julien’s gate 16. The river Oust and canal Les Rives Saint Julien 17. The new bridge 18. The bridges gate

19. Presbetery 20. The mills of Malestroit 21. The church of Notre Dame 22. Iron age discoveries 23. The convent of the Augustins 24. The river Oust 25. A peace treaty between the kings of

France and England 26. Chapelle de la Madeleine 27. The legend of the white lady 28. The canal from Nantes to Brest 29. Lock n°25 30. Augustins monastery 31. Lamennaisien school 32. La croix joubin 33. Saint Michel’ s gate 34. Golden lion fountain 35. Saint-Gilles church 36. House of the rulers 37. Saint-Gilles church 38. Lintel in the rue Huberdière

Legend of Bezants circuit :

4. Rue aux anglais : This medieval street is comprised of small half-timbered houses with stone ledges outside for selling merchandise. In the seventeenth century English and Irish mercenaries were garrisoned in the street. By the 18th century, there was a large working population.

1. Townhall (1938) : Malestroit's coat of arms is displayed on the front of the town hall with the motto : 'He who counts his money is not from Malestroit'. The city of Malestroit is one of the nine ancient baronies of Brittany. The word 'Malestroit' derives from two Breton words 'Mael' (Master, probably Prince or Lord) and 'Trec'h' (Track High-way or Passage) translating as 'Lord of the Highway.'

2. Place du bouffay :

'Bouffay' is a corruption of old French 'buffer' and modern French 'souffler' meaning to blow the place where the town crier came and blew his trumpet. A sixteenth-century well was demolished in 1921 to make way for a memorial to the sixty-two malestroyens who gave their lives in the 1914-1918 war. Until 1757 Malestroit was an im-portant crossing of two of Brittany's most important inland waterways one from Angers to Brest by Redon, the other from Rennes to Vannes and Lorient

1 bis. The besieged fort (1589-1592) : During the Religious wars, Malestroit was acquired by the French kingdom of Henri IV. The mem-bers of the League of the Duc de Mercoeur, Governor of Brittany wanted to take control of Ma-lestroit which had a strategic location for catholic operations and communications : they laid 3 sieges, over 3 years. Finally, Malestroit surrendered to the members of the league on the 3rd of July in 1592.

3. Auditoire (17th century) : The Auditoire was the courtroom of the Lord of La Chapel Quintin which dispensed both low and high court justice. The renaissance façade with carved door displays the defaced coat of arms of Quintin of the revolution a crescent with eight notes.

5. Saint Anne’s gate : Originally St. Marcel Gate. This portal to the southwest of the fortress consisted of a drawbridge plus two towers for defence which were also a prison (destroyed in 1840).

6. The cross of sainte Anne :

On the site of one of the cities early cemeteries, close to the church of St-Anne. It was in use until 1850.

7. The hospital chapel : First built in the 14th century by the Lords of malestroit. The hospital was destroyed by the troops of Duke Mercoeur between 1589 and 1592, then rebuilt in 1617 and again in 1741. The chapel that now stands dates from 1839.

7 bis. Vestiges of the battlements of the 15th century : The walls were badly damaged during the 3 sieges laid by the members of the Catholic League of the Duc de Mercoeur at the end of the 16th century and, later, by the Chuan insurgents.The walls were 2 meters thick and 8 meters high.

8. The pelican house : 15th century timbered house in the gothic breton style, which takes its name from the statue of a pelican on the corner that signifies the redemption of Christ.

9. House of "la truie qui file" :

Timbered house which takes its name from the pig at the spinning wheel.

There are many other statues which have different meanings. Characters fea-

tured are:

A hunter blowing his horn, a man sticking out his tongue, a man beating his wife. Animals- A sow at the spinning wheel, a menacing dog, a hare playing the bagpipes.

10. Renaissance style building : This building dates from the 16th century. A lovely facade with elegant windows. This is a typical breton style with sculptures of an angel and also a stoat sleeping; in the centre there are sculp-tures that have the body of animals and the heads of humans.

11. Carved wooden door (16th/17th century) : The wooden door represents wealth according to greek and roman traditions. It also symbolises fertiltiy and then in later times became a gesture of generosity and hospitality.

12. 15th century style house : Characterised by its lookout points and the corbelled constructions and the robust sandstone walls. In the simple 15th century style decor. The corbelled design was banned by Royal Decree in 1607.

13. Hôtel particulier : Rennaissance style building with a decorated stone archway over the door. The stonework jutting out represents where each new level of the building starts. Ornate surrounding of the window on the top floor with a curving arch.

14. The guards house : Originally wooden. On the ground floor there is an arched door

which is surrounded by stonework. Inside there are 2 chimneys with

stone supports. This was a garrison for soldiers at the end of the

16th century, which housed 400 soldiers and 80 horses.

15. Saint Julien’s gate : This entry into the town was flanked by two towers on either side for protection. The towers were destroyed in 1782.

20. The mills of Malestroit : An agreement between the Prior of the Madeleine and Lord Paien II of Ma-lestroit stated the rights of the mills on the river in the 12th century. In 1417 an acknowledgement from Jeanne de Malestroit said that 6 new mills were to be built on the river August.

16. The river Oust and canal : In 834 the name of the river was ULT which changed to Ultum in 859, OUT in the 18th century then AOUGST and AOUST. It was regularly used by boats from Redon as early as the 18th century. The merchants association of the town realized the potential of the locks at Rieux and Beaumont, downstream from Malestroit.1841 saw the opening of the canal from Nantes to Brest. The first boats were pulled along the side of the canal by horses. But nowadays the canal is used by holiday makers on pleasure boats.

17. The new bridge : Built form granite and dating from 1863. The first arch of the bridge was destroyed by the german troops on the 4th of august 1944 and had to be rebuilt after the war.

18. The bridges gate : This also was flanked by towers but these were destroyed in 1750 after the devastating floods that occurred in the area.

21. The church of Notre Dame (15th century) : The church was built by Jean IV of Raguenel, the first baron of Malestroit, and a marshall of Brittany. He bu-ried in the church of Saint Gilles in 1471. The church was sold in 1791, and it was in ruins at the beginning of the 19th century.

22. Iron age discoveries : An extremely rare type of cremation urn, either made from clay or glass. It measured at the most 1m30 in height and 0m50 in diameter.

Les Rives Saint Julien : Washboards on the edge of the river. This was the palace of work of the tanners up until the 19

th century,

Where they rinsed the animal skin. In the 17th century, Malestroit had 12 tanners.

19. Presbetery : Built in 1419 by Jean of Malestroit, Bishop of Saint-Brieuc then Nantes. Chancellor of The Duke of Brittany. Note the wooden carvings on the door. The wooden staircase dates form the 17th century.

23. The convent of the Augustins : It is the only convent of the Augustins from Paris, it was built in 1637 around the walls of the old castle of Malestroit. In 1790 the Augustins were evicted and the building was sold in 1791. The main building, on two floors of the convent was demolished in 1960.

24. The river Oust : Historically west frontier between the tribes of Coriosolites and Venetes. Its source is in the hills of Saint-Brandan (alt.320m). Its tributaries are the rivers Lahorn, Lie, Ninian, Claie, Aff and Arz. There are also the rivers Oustin Arriege, and Oust-Ourt in Caspian.

26. Chapel de la Madeleine (11th and 12th century) : Ancient roman chapel based on a rectangular design, it became prior of the abbey of Marmoutier (near Tours). In the 15th centu-ry another part with 2 naves was added on to the church in a gothic style, a rare sight in Brittany. A painting by A. Bloch in the museum at Quimper shows the interior of the chapel, before it was closed around 1870. The beautifully designed stained glass windows dating from the 17th century, inspired by the legend of Saint Madeleine, were stolen and later decorated the place of work of Emile Zola. The cemetery dates from the 12th century, the crucifix dates from the 16th century.

27. The White Lady, the legendary ghost : The writer and poet Paul Feval (1817-1887) described Ermengarde, Alain de Malestroit’s daugh-

ter as :

“Tall, beautiful, majestic, supple, swaying in the breeze, with long hair surrounding her like a

cloak” She appears in the moonlight, gliding on the quiet and misty waters of the Oust marshes,

her tomb, from where she lures the boats of the enemies”…

25. A peace treaty between the kings of France and England and their allies" was agreed in the prior of the Madeleine in Malestroit on the 19th january 1343" : This suspension of war for 3 years was agreed during the conflict of the duchy of brittany during the hundred year war. The royal armies were on the verge of clashing with each other during the Malestroit campaign. Edward III at the head of his English army with 12 500 men and Philippe VI de Valois with his army of 50 000 men. The treaty was signed thanks to the intervention of 2 cardinals of pope Clement VI. This treaty was broken after the terrible beheading by Philippe de Valois of 14 bre-ton lords, including Olivier de Clisson and Jean de Malestroit in Paris, November 1343.

28. The canal from Nantes to Brest (19th century) : The canal has existed for over a century in the heart of Brittany. It was Napoleon's idea which he decided on the 17th of march 1804 and it was finally achieved in 1840. (It was constructed in Malestroit from 1829). The canal is 362 km long with 236 locks. It is the joining of 8 rivers, the crea-tion of 3 canal junctions and one reservoir. These represent 14 million cubic metres of water. Many prisoners of war were transported up and down the canal, including Prussians, Spaniards and English and also criminals coming from Brest. Malestroit was fortified from the 15th century and was able to expand thanks to the industries which sprung up along-side the river for example linen and leather. The opening of the canal in

1841 increased these industries greatly. Of course nowadays the canal is almost solely used by holiday-makers.

30.Augustins monastery : Created in 1670 by the Ursulines. The actual chapel was changed and relocated in 1931. It contains a lovely modern organ and a statue of the Virgin Mary and Jesus dating from the 16th and 18th century. In 1792 the Ursulines were expelled from the convent. From 1792 until 1866 the brothers of LAMMENAIS founded a school of reli-gious learning. In 1866 the monks created a boardinghouse. And in 1914 the Monastery housed Belgian refugees. In 1944 General Audibert, head of the Resistance in the west was

captured here by the Gestapo. After the battle of Saint Marcel on

the 18th june 1944, the french parachutists dressed in religious clothing escaped from the Ger-

mans. In 1942 General De Gaulle awarded “La Légion d'Honneur” to Mother Yvonne Aimée de

Jesus, who also received 5 other distinctions from the French, the British and the Americans. She

sadly died in 1951.

29. Lock n°25 (1825) : On the canal from Nantes to Brest, Malestroit is the 25th loch. Its dimensions are a length of 26m, a width of 4m70, a lowering of 3m80 and an height of 17m35. The quantity of water at each Loch is 460 cubic metres. Around 3000 boats pass through every year and in the summer time there is as many as 30 per day.

31. Lamennaisien school : La Mennais school was created in 1828 by Félicité and his brother Jean-Marie, along with 20 priests and teachers. A liberal Catholic school, with many philosophical theories. 10 languages could be studied includ-ing Chinese, Persian and Sanskrit. Malestroit has been chosen to be the Oxford or Cambridge "of France". Thanks to such scholars as the Abbot of Rohrbacher(1789-1856) a theologist wrote 5 volumes on the history of the Catholic Church there. Félicité from the Mennais went on to be deputy of the Constituent assembly in 1848 and he died

in 1854. He is considered nowadays as the founder of social Catholicism. His brother Jean-Marie

was authorised by Minister Guizot to open a Latin college in Malestroit with 28 boarders from

1838 to 1844.

32. La croix Joubin (15th century) : North side : The crucifixion group with the Virgin Mary and Saint Jean. Christ is on bended knees,

with his feet crossed. South side- The Virgin Mary crowning the infant, with Saint Catherine of Al-

exandria and Saint Marguerite of Antioch.

33. Saint Michel’s gate (15th century) : The town was fortified in 1463 by Jean IV of Raguenel, baron of Malestroit, marshall of

Brittany. The walls were 8m high and 2m wide. This ensured that Malestroit was well

protected. The first of these fortifications was badly damaged during the sieges from

1589 to 1595 from the troops of the Duke of Mercoeur.

At the end of the 16th century 5 bastions reinforced the ramparts, making them thick-er, and guns replaced bows and arrows. During the revolution the gates had to be strengthened further still. In the 18th and 19th centuries the gates and towers were demolished. The Borguet Gate (1750), St Julien’s Gate(1782) and the tower at St Anne’s Gate (1840).

34. Golden lion fountain : Found on the oldest part of the Church, below the stain glassed window.

36. House of the rulers (17th century) : The Kings prosecutors, subdelegates and mayors have all lived in this house, for the lengh of their tenure. Up until 1820, the main part of the building opened out onto "Place de Bouffay" In-side there is a lovely ornate staircase dating from the 17th century.

35. Saint Gilles church (11th, 12th, 13th, 16th and 18th centuries) : A church which has been modified through many different peri-ods. The earliest part of the church dates from the end of the 11th century- all that remains is the transept and the support. There were many architectural modifications made between 1511 and 1531 all in the gothic style of architecture. The church was set on fire many times in 1592 during the war of

the "ligueurs" but many items survived these fires.

38. Lintel in the rue Huberdière (also called rue Saint-Cul) : This lintel has 3 maxims in ancient languages on.

The first is in Hebrew : “I believed in your Mercy Jehovah”.

The second is in Greek : “Know you yourself”.

The third is in Latin : “Earth is just a brief stay, Heaven is the homeland God reserved for us”.

“Saint-Cul” is the old name of the rue Huberdière, and it is still used today by the inhabitants. It

may come from an ancient form of slang where letters are reversed (patronymic Saint Luc).

37. Saint-Gilles church : Interior : Stained Glass Windows Saint Nicolas of Myre and Saint Gilles (10th century) Saint Roch (16th century) Jesse Tree (16th century) There are also two windows showing the work of Laumonnier de Vannes dating from 1893. The main stain glass window tells us the legend of Saint-Gilles, this was designed by Huchet from Le Mans and was made in 1900.

The pulpit dating from the 17th century, The Crucifix from the 15th and 17th centuries, A statue of the Virgin Mary from the end of the 15th century, Saint Georges from the 17th Century, Saint Gilles.