Tertre Aubé
MonumentHidden Treasure
Tertre Aubé, located in Saint-Brieuc (Département 22), 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
- Saint-Brieuc, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.5212, -2.7537
- Mérimée Reference
- PA22000037
One of the few mottes castrales in Brittany to be listed as a Historic Monument, Tertre Aubé is a striking vestige of Norman feudalism in the heart of the Côtes-d'Armor region.
History
Standing on the edge of the town of Saint-Brieuc, Tertre Aubé is much more than just a grassy mound: it is a mute but eloquent witness in stone and earth to the feudal society that structured medieval Brittany for several centuries. This motte castrale, protected by a Historic Monument classification order since 1925, is an exceptional archaeological landmark in the Brioche landscape, all too often overlooked by visitors in a hurry. Le Tertre Aubé belongs to the family of feudal mottes, the artificial or semi-artificial eminences on which the lords of the Middle Ages erected their fortified residences, a symbol of power and a point of control over the surrounding territory. In the Saint-Brieuc region, such structures were built for a specific purpose: to keep watch over the communication routes, assert the lords' authority over the agricultural land in the Breton hinterland and defend the population against Viking incursions and the wars of succession that tore Brittany apart in the 11th and 12th centuries. What makes Le Tertre Aubé so special is that it has survived almost intact in an urban environment that could have swallowed it up. While thousands of Norman and Breton mottes have disappeared under the plough or concrete, this one has survived the centuries, preserving the characteristic silhouette given to it by the arms of its medieval builders. Its mass of compacted earth, shaped with rudimentary tools, commands respect for its very durability. A visit to Tertre Aubé is a contemplative experience, ideal for lovers of archaeology and medieval history. As you climb its slopes, you can follow in the footsteps of the watchmen who used to scan the horizon from this very promontory. The view over the surrounding countryside and towards the Bay of Saint-Brieuc offers a panorama that has hardly changed in outline since the Middle Ages, making the connection with the past palpable and almost dizzying. An open-air site with free access, Tertre Aubé is just as suitable for families wanting to introduce their children to archaeology as it is for enthusiasts of Brittany's medieval military heritage. In spring, the vegetation on its slopes reveals the undulations of its original profile, offering photographers beautifully sober geometric compositions.
Architecture
Tertre Aubé is a remarkably well-preserved example of a motte castrale, a form of earthen military architecture characteristic of the 10th-12th centuries. This is an artificial or semi-artificial eminence, created by accumulating and compacting earth, with an immediately recognisable truncated cone shape - wide base, flattened top forming a platform. This type of structure was generally between five and fifteen metres high, with the diameter of the top varying from ten to twenty metres depending on the importance of the lord. The sides, carefully sloped at an angle to make climbing difficult for an attacker laden with weapons, were in themselves a significant defensive obstacle. At the top of the motte was the residential and defensive structure: a wooden tower - the keep - surrounded by a palisade of pointed oak posts. This two- or three-storey tower housed the reception hall, the lord's quarters and a storage area. The building materials used were exclusively organic - oak and chestnut, which are abundant in Armorican Brittany - which explains why they have completely disappeared. At the foot of the motte was the farmyard, a utilitarian space surrounded by a moat and a palisade, linked to the motte by a wooden staircase or footbridge. Although no stone structures are visible today, the telluric mass of the motte itself represents a feat of primitive civil engineering: thousands of cubic metres of earth were moved and shaped by human and animal power alone, using tools made of wood, horn and wrought iron. The cohesion of this structure, still standing after nearly a thousand years, bears witness to a technical mastery of local materials - Breton clays, silts and sands - that has won the admiration of contemporary archaeologists.
Related Figures
Les comtes de Penthièvre — suzerains féodaux qui contrôlaient la région de Saint-Brieuc aux XIe-XIIe siècles et sous l'autorité desquels fut probablement érigée la motteLes évêques de Saint-Brieuc — puissance ecclésiastique rivale des seigneuries laïques dans le contrôle du territoire briochin médiévalNominoë — premier roi de Bretagne unifié (mort en 851), dont le règne amorça le mouvement de fortification du territoire breton face aux Carolingiens et aux VikingsAlain Barbetorte — duc de Bretagne qui chassa les Vikings en 939 et impulsa la reconstruction des fortifications bretonnes, dans le contexte duquel des mottes comme le Tertre Aubé prirent leur essorLes conservateurs des Monuments Historiques des Côtes-du-Nord — qui obtinrent le classement du site en 1925, sauvant la motte d'une destruction certaine
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Tertre Aubé located?
Tertre Aubé is located in Saint-Brieuc, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Tertre Aubé built?
Tertre Aubé dates back to a period built in the Middle Ages (11th-15th century).
Is Tertre Aubé open to visitors?
Tertre Aubé is currently closed to visitors.
