Maison du 16e siècle dite Hôtel Kératry
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison du 16e siècle dite Hôtel Kératry, located in Dinan (Département 22), 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
- Dinan, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.4528, -2.0430
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089099
Rescapée de Lanvollon, cette maison à pans de bois du XVIe siècle transplantée à Dinan incarne le génie de l'architecture civile bretonne de la Renaissance, avec ses encorbellements sculptés et ses sablières ornées.
History
In the heart of Dinan, one of Brittany's best-preserved medieval towns, the Hôtel Kératry stands out for its extraordinary history: that of a 16th-century timber-framed house that has survived time and space to escape destruction. Originally built in Lanvollon, in the Côtes-d'Armor region of Brittany, this house is a testament to Breton craftsmanship at its peak, when carpenters and sculptors competed in invention to decorate façades and wall plates with plant motifs, grotesque figures and scrolls characteristic of the Renaissance style. What makes the Hôtel Kératry truly unique is its survival by transplantation. In 1938, faced with the threat of demolition hanging over the house in Lanvollon, the municipality of Dinan took the bold decision to acquire it, dismantle it piece by piece and rebuild it in its own streets - an operation that was both technical and symbolic, rare for its time, and which anticipated the major heritage conservation campaigns of the second twentieth century. Placed in the architectural context of Dinan, the house fits naturally into the historic streets of the old town, whose corbelled facades evoke a late Middle Ages prolonged by the first stirrings of the Renaissance. The neighbouring Rue des Cordeliers and Place des Merciers provide a coherent backdrop for this survivor of the Bas-Breton heritage, where every half-timbering and every sculpted bracket invites the eye to linger. For visitors, the experience is twofold: admire the facade from the street, looking up at the details chiselled into the oak wood, and then let your imagination recreate the interior of the 16th-century bourgeois residence - its vast rooms with monumental fireplaces and exposed beams steeped in history. Photographers and architecture enthusiasts will find the low-angled light of the morning or the evening at the end of the day a superb opportunity to capture the depth of the sculptures. Listed as a historic monument as early as 1922, well before it was moved, the Hôtel Kératry benefits from protection that testifies to the early recognition of its exceptional value. Its atypical history makes it as much an architectural object as a manifesto for the preservation of Breton heritage.
Architecture
The Hôtel Kératry is a timber-framed house - or half-timbering - typical of 16th-century Breton civil architecture. Its structure is based on a framework of oak posts and runners, reinforced by sloping eaves and sculpted eaves. The street façade features successive corbels, with each level projecting slightly over the next, a characteristic technique that maximised living space in narrow urban plots while creating a sought-after plastic effect. The richness of the building lies above all in its sculpted programme. The runners - horizontal beams running from one end of the façade to the other - are adorned with foliage scrolls, grotesque figures, mascarons and interwoven geometric motifs, bearing witness to the influence of Renaissance engravings distributed throughout northern Europe. The corbels and brackets that support the corbels are also finely worked, alternating anthropomorphic forms and leafy motifs of remarkable finesse. The building materials used are those of the 16th-century Breton construction tradition: solid oak for the framework, infill masonry in local stone or cob between the half-timbering, and slate, presumably for the roofing - slate from Anjou or Ille-et-Vilaine has been the dominant roofing material in inland Brittany since the late Middle Ages. Together, these features give the building a dark, vigorous silhouette that is characteristic of Dinan's historic streets.
Related Figures
Famille Kératry — probable famille noble bretonne ayant donné son nom à la demeureÉlus de la commune de Dinan (années 1930) — initiateurs de l'opération de sauvetage et de transplantation en 1938Charpentiers artisans du XVIe siècle — auteurs inconnus des sculptures ornant la façadeArchitectes des Monuments Historiques (années 1920-1930) — responsables de la protection et du suivi de l'édificeAuguste Kératry (1769-1859) — homme politique et écrivain breton dont le patronyme illustre l'ancrage de la famille dans la région
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison du 16e siècle dite Hôtel Kératry located?
Maison du 16e siècle dite Hôtel Kératry is located in Dinan, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Maison du 16e siècle dite Hôtel Kératry built?
Maison du 16e siècle dite Hôtel Kératry dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Maison du 16e siècle dite Hôtel Kératry open to visitors?
Maison du 16e siècle dite Hôtel Kératry is currently closed to visitors.
