Manoir de Pont-Couennec, ou de Pont-Guennec
ManorHidden Treasure
Manoir de Pont-Couennec, ou de Pont-Guennec, located in Perros-Guirec (Département 22), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- Manor
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Perros-Guirec, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.7981, -3.4425
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089764
Nestling on the moors around Perros-Guirec, the Pont-Couennec manor house reveals the late elegance of Breton Gothic architecture: a main building flanked by a turret and a remarkably intact dovecote, testimony to a noble lifestyle of the 15th century.
History
Hidden away in the coastal bocage of the Côtes-d'Armor region, the manor house of Pont-Couennec - sometimes spelt Pont-Guennec - discreetly embodies all the refinement of the Breton nobility of the late Middle Ages. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1990, it is an architectural ensemble of rare coherence, where the sobriety of the local granite combines with the sophistication of the sculpted details characteristic of the period. What sets Pont-Couennec apart from other manor houses in northern Brittany is precisely the harmony that can still be seen between its different volumes: the rectangular main building, the pavilion with its corbelled turret and, above all, the northern dovecote, preserved in near-perfect condition. The latter, a symbol of seigneurial prestige under the Ancien Régime, testifies to the social importance of its former owners - only the nobility enjoyed the right to a dovecote, and few examples have survived so intact. The experience of visiting the manor is that of a living, authentic heritage, far removed from museographic reconstructions. To approach the manor house is to walk through a landscape that the Perros and Kerjegu families have shaped century after century: paths lined with granite slopes, an end-of-the-world atmosphere between moorland and pink granite, so characteristic of the Trégor coast. The disappearance of the chapel, demolished at the end of the 19th century in an act of ordinary vandalism, leaves an almost palpable absence, but contributes to the poetic melancholy of the whole. The natural setting amplifies the character of this manor house: just a few kilometres from the famous Pink Granite Coast and the Sept-Îles, the site is bathed in the special, iodised and ever-changing light that has inspired so many Breton painters. Pont-Couennec is the ideal place to visit during a holiday on the coast of Trégorrois, a stone interlude for those seeking to understand the very soul of Brittany.
Architecture
The Pont-Couennec manor house is part of the late flamboyant Gothic tradition of Breton manor house architecture, as practised in the Trégor region at the end of the 15th century. The general plan is based on a rectangular main building, elongated along the east-west axis, adjoined by a slender pavilion whose projecting turret is the most expressive element of the composition. This combination of main building and turret is typical of Breton manor houses of the period: here, the turret no longer has a defensive function, but asserts its owner's rank while organising vertical circulation between floors. The materials used are typical of the region: pink and grey granite from the Perros region, carefully cut for the window surrounds and the corners of the building, while the standard masonry uses local rubble stone. The openings probably feature prismatic or braced mouldings, an ornamental vocabulary common in late 15th-century Breton Gothic, and found on comparable buildings in the region such as the manor house at Coat-an-Noz and the manor house at Crec'h Uguen. The dovecote, located to the north of the main building and preserved in perfect condition, is undoubtedly the most remarkable feature of the site. Circular in plan, it stands several metres high and displays the technical features typical of this type of construction: a large number of bolts to accommodate the pigeons, a cornice to protect against predators and carefully positioned openings. Its exceptional state of preservation makes it an invaluable document of rural seigneurial management in Brittany.
Related Figures
Riou de Perros — fondateur présumé du manoir, fin XVe siècleAmaury Jascob de Kerjegu — commanditaire de la chapelle en 1599Famille de Perros — lignée noble trégorroise à l'origine de la constructionFamille Kerjegu — propriétaires au tournant du XVIe-XVIIe siècle
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Manoir de Pont-Couennec, ou de Pont-Guennec located?
Manoir de Pont-Couennec, ou de Pont-Guennec is located in Perros-Guirec, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Manoir de Pont-Couennec, ou de Pont-Guennec built?
Manoir de Pont-Couennec, ou de Pont-Guennec dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Manoir de Pont-Couennec, ou de Pont-Guennec open to visitors?
Manoir de Pont-Couennec, ou de Pont-Guennec is currently closed to visitors.