A team of archaeologists was excavating the courtyard and underground wine cellar of a hotel in France in the spring of 2023. During the process of excavation, they discovered a medieval castle… nearly 640 years old! The historic hotel, named Lagorce, is situated in Vannes, a village on the western coast of the Brittany region. Meanwhile, the medieval castle is known as Château de l’Hermine.

The archaeologists from the French National Institute of Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP) have claimed that the hotel was built on top of the castle in the 18th Century and the castle was constructed as a fortress and residence for John IV, the Duke of Brittany, in 1381. According to archaeologists, the feudal lords used to rule Brittany from the 10th to the 16th Century. At that period of time, pirates often created trouble in the region. However, the Dukes chased them away from there.

After becoming the fourth Duke of Brittany in 1365, John IV built a number of castles by carving the mountains. Château de l’Hermine is one of those castles that was built in 1381. However, Vannes gradually started losing its importance. The castle, too, only lasted for a century and fell into disrepair. Francis II, the grandson of John IV, moved the capital of the Duchy out of Vannes. He started building new architectures one after another in the new capital. Several buildings, including a hotel, a law school and a government office, were built above the castle from the 18th to 20th Century. Thus, a private palace was constructed on the castle built by John IV. However, the exact plan of John IV’s castle remained unknown until 2021.

The French Government took over the Château de l’Hermine in the 19th Century. Later, the Government built a school, a treasury and an archive on the castle before constructing the Lagorce Hotel. Universities, other educational institutions and government offices were built not only on the Château de l’Hermine, but also on other medieval castles in Vannes. Thus, the feudal history of France was erased.

The archaeologists discovered the Château de l’Hermine castle while excavating the Lagorce Hotel in 2023. While the length of the castle is 138ft, its width is about 56ft, with walls up to 18ft thick. The castle has multiple staircases, door structures, toilets and drains. Archaeologists also found multiple signs of human habitation inside the castle as they discovered cooking accessories, coins and jewelleries. They even traced a reservoir (or creek) inside the castle where the waters of River Marley used to enter. A tiny dam was there in order to control the flow of water. In a statement, the INRAP has mentioned that the castle’s architecture cleverly combined defensive functions with residential ones.

Meanwhile, the Château de Suscinio castle is situated 15km south of the Château de l’Hermine. There is a similarity between the structure of the two castles. It is believed that the two castles were built around the same time. There are various opinions as to why the new castle was built on the old one.

According to some archaeologists, enemies destroyed the old castle, prompting the Dukes to build a new one. Others are of the opinion that the old castle was almost ruined due to being abandoned for a long time. Finally, archaeologists discovered this medieval architecture! Coming across the existence of this medieval piece of architecture in this fashion has surely been sensational!

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Published by Koushik Das

Koushik Das (born on May 16, 1976 in Kolkata) is a career journalist. Based in the Indian capital of New Delhi, Koushik writes mainly about foreign policies and current geopolitical issues, and rarely about other topics. His own political ideas are highly influenced by Antonio Gramsci, Louis Althusser, Michel Foucault, Michael Oakeshott and others. English philosopher and political theorist Oakeshott (Dec 11, 1901-Dec 19, 1990) says that “in political activity, men sail a boundless and bottomless sea. There is neither harbour for shelter nor floor for anchorage, neither starting-place, nor appointed destination. But we have to keep afloat”. (Rationalism in Politics, 1962) As a student of Political Science, Koushik loves to share his views on issues, which have great impacts on his thought process (and also on India, South Asia and of course on the global community), with his readers through his website – Boundless Ocean of Politics. By doing so, he tries to keep himself afloat. You will find some of his articles in https://inserbia.info/today/ (https://inserbia.info/today/author/kou_das13_i/), as he has been trying to assess the global geopolitics since 2003. You can also mail him at kousdas@gmail.com View all posts by Koushik Das