Colonne des Trente
MonumentHidden Treasure
Colonne des Trente, located in Guillac (Département 56), is a medieval landmark built in the Middle Ages. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Medieval (11th-15th century)
- Location
- Guillac, Département 56, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.9375, -2.4870
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00091266
Standing in the middle of the Breton bocage, the Column of the Thirty commemorates the legendary battle of 1351, a chivalrous duel between thirty Bretons and thirty Englishmen that became a symbol of medieval honour. A thirteen-metre obelisk, steeped in epic history.
History
In the heart of the Morbihan bocage, between Josselin and Ploërmel, a thirteen-metre obelisk rises from the fields like a stone sentinel. The Column of the Thirty is not just another monument: it marks one of the places most charged with chivalric memory in France, where, in 1351, thirty Breton warriors and thirty English knights chose to settle the fate of the War of the Breton Succession in a collective duel. History and legend intertwine here with a rare intensity. What sets this monument apart is its profoundly human and narrative character. Unlike castles and cathedrals, which impress by their sheer mass, the Column of the Thirty is striking for the precision of the story it embodies: an agreement between adversaries, an agreed location, a loyal battle fought to the end. In this way, it perpetuates a chivalric ideal that, as far back as the seventeenth century, prompted local residents to plant a stone cross on it, long before the State thought of protecting it. The visit lends itself to a meditative pause in an unspoilt rural landscape, where the hedgerows of the hedgerows form a horizon familiar from the Middle Ages in Brittany. Behind the neoclassical obelisk stands the old cross, reassembled after its destruction in the Revolution: two superimposed layers of memory, two commemorative impulses separated by centuries but animated by the same breath. The whole picture is one of striking simplicity. The site is particularly well-suited to lovers of medieval history, hikers who follow the paths of the Pontivy and Porhoët regions, and anyone who is moved by the persistence of collective memory in the landscape. There are no shops or guided tours here: just the stone, the Breton sky, and the resonance of a phrase etched down the centuries - "Drink your blood, Beaumanoir!
Architecture
The obelisk of the Colonne des Trente belongs to the tradition of neoclassical commemorative monuments of the 19th century, which borrowed from Egyptian and Greco-Roman antiquity the form of the slender stele to signify the permanence of remembrance. Erected from local stone - probably Morbihan granite or sandstone - it stands thirteen metres high, a symbolic dimension that recalls the number of combatants on each side. Its rectangular shaft, tapering slightly towards the top, rests on a stepped base that anchors it solemnly in the moorland soil. The sobriety of the obelisk's ornamentation contrasts with the intensity of the story it tells: a few commemorative inscriptions carved into the stone form the bulk of the decoration, allowing the monument to play its educational and memorial role without superfluous pomp. Immediately behind the obelisk is the 17th-century cross, reconstructed from its original fragments after it was destroyed in 1793. This stone cross, simple and rural in design, provides a touching counterpoint to the academic austerity of the obelisk, embodying the popular and religious memory of the place in the face of official and secular commemoration. The site as a whole, set in an open rural environment, is remarkably legible from a landscape point of view: the verticality of the monument stands out against the sky and the surrounding moors, providing a strong visual presence in an otherwise sparsely urbanised environment. This unspoilt setting contributes to the authenticity of the visitor experience.
Related Figures
Jean de Beaumanoir — capitaine de Josselin, chef des trente chevaliers bretons, vainqueur du combatRobert Bramborough — capitaine anglais tenant Ploërmel, tué au cours du combatCharles de Blois — prétendant breton au duché, au nom duquel combattait BeaumanoirJean de Montfort — prétendant pro-anglais, dont défendait le parti BramboroughGeoffroy du Bois — compagnon de Beaumanoir à qui est attribuée la célèbre réplique « Bois ton sang ! »
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Colonne des Trente located?
Colonne des Trente is located in Guillac, Département 56 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Colonne des Trente built?
Colonne des Trente dates back to a period built in the Middle Ages (11th-15th century).
Is Colonne des Trente open to visitors?
Colonne des Trente is currently closed to visitors.