Maison de Jacques Cartier, dite Les Portes Cartier
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison de Jacques Cartier, dite Les Portes Cartier, located in Saint-Malo (Département 35), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Saint-Malo, Département 35, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.6739, -1.9664
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090821
Manoir malouin du XVIe siècle où s'éteignit Jacques Cartier, découvreur du Canada. Entre cour et jardin, sa tourelle circulaire et sa chambre historique racontent l'épopée des grandes explorations françaises.
History
Nestling in the hinterland of Saint-Malo, the house known as "Les Portes Cartier" is much more than a 16th-century Breton residence: it is the place where one of the greatest navigators in French history died. Jacques Cartier, the man who gave France Canada, ended his days here in 1557, far from the storms of the North Atlantic, in the relative tranquillity of a manor house set between courtyard and garden. This seemingly modest site is steeped in a rare wealth of history. The main building, constructed in the second quarter of the 16th century, follows a layout typical of rural Breton dwellings of the Renaissance period: a main building flanked on the courtyard side by an elegant circular turret with a spiral staircase leading to the upper floors. This sober but elegant turret is the architectural signature of the building, reminiscent of the manor houses of the noblesse de robe of Saint-Malo at the time. Two more recent wings, attached to the gables, complete the ensemble without betraying its spirit. The interior is organised in a way that is typical of seigneurial residences of the period: a vast kitchen on one level, extended by a second room, forms the functional heart of the ground floor. On the first floor, Jacques Cartier's bedroom is the highlight of the visit - a sober, almost austere room where the imagination takes over from the stone to conjure up the figure of the Breton sailor who returned from his four transatlantic crossings. The general setting of the property, with its southern outbuildings and enclosed courtyard, perfectly evokes the atmosphere of the manor houses on the Breton coast at the time of François I. Lovers of regional Renaissance heritage, maritime history enthusiasts and pilgrims to the memory of Cartier will find this an intimate experience, far from the crowds of the Malouins ramparts. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1940, Jacques Cartier's house remains a discreet but irreplaceable testimony to the extraordinary destiny of a Breton man who became the tutelary figure of two nations. It invites you to take a slow, attentive tour, where each stone seems to carry the echo of the winds of the St. Lawrence.
Architecture
Jacques Cartier's house is in the tradition of Breton manor houses of the early Renaissance, with an economy of means that does not exclude a certain elegance. The main building, set between courtyard and garden in the classic style of a noble rural dwelling, is a sober rectangular mass, whose local cut stone - bluish-grey granite characteristic of the Malouin region - lends a natural gravity to the whole. The openings, proportioned according to the canons of the early 16th century, bear witness to a transition between the late flamboyant Gothic style and the first Renaissance influences penetrating Brittany from the Loire. The most striking feature of the courtyard façade is undoubtedly the projecting circular turret. It houses a spiral staircase, the design of which, typical of contemporary Breton manor houses, provided a vertical access independent of the main rooms. This turret, topped with a conical slate roof, gives the building its characteristic silhouette and is its only real ornament. Two more recent buildings, attached to the gables of the main building, have been added over the centuries to meet living requirements, without altering the legibility of the original structure. The interior is rationally organised: on the ground floor, a large vaulted or beamed kitchen, extended by a second multi-purpose room, takes care of domestic functions. The stairway in the turret leads to the first floor, where Jacques Cartier's bedroom, spacious and sober, opens onto the garden. The farm outbuildings, built to the south of the courtyard opposite the main building, complete a coherent ensemble that reflects the life of a prosperous shipowner of the Breton Renaissance.
Related Figures
Jacques Cartier (1491-1557) — navigateur malouin, découvreur du Canada et explorateur du Saint-Laurent, mort dans cette demeureFrançois Ier (1494-1547) — roi de France qui finança et ordonna les expéditions canadiennes de CartierJean-François de La Rocque de Roberval — lieutenant général de Nouvelle-France, rival institutionnel de Cartier pour la colonisation du CanadaPhilippe de Brion-Chabot — amiral de France qui soutint les premières expéditions cartériennes auprès de François IerCatherine des Granches — épouse de Jacques Cartier, fille d'un connétable de Saint-Malo, qui vécut dans cette demeure aux côtés du navigateur
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison de Jacques Cartier, dite Les Portes Cartier located?
Maison de Jacques Cartier, dite Les Portes Cartier is located in Saint-Malo, Département 35 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Maison de Jacques Cartier, dite Les Portes Cartier built?
Maison de Jacques Cartier, dite Les Portes Cartier dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Maison de Jacques Cartier, dite Les Portes Cartier open to visitors?
Maison de Jacques Cartier, dite Les Portes Cartier is currently closed to visitors.
