Blain: The Château de la Groulais on the Nantes–Brest Canal
Pays de la Loire, France
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Groulais Printer
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200
XP
+100 France
= 300 total
1 day
Blain: The Château de la Groulais on the Nantes–Brest Canal
200 + 100 XP
The Château de la Groulais at Blain was begun about 1104 for Alain IV Fergent, duke of Brittany, as one of the duchy's frontier fortresses alongside Vitré, Fougères, Châteaubriant, Ancenis and Clisson. It was razed in 1260, rebuilt, grown into a formidable castle under Olivier V de Clisson, held by the Rohan from 1407 to 1802, reworked in Renaissance style in the 16th century when Blain was a centre of the Reformation in Brittany, taken and damaged by the Catholic League in 1591, and dismantled on Richelieu's order in 1628. It had up to twelve towers and nine of them still stand. The moats were fed by the Isac before the Nantes–Brest canal took over its course in the 19th century, and the association Amagraph runs a museum of old printing in the buildings.
Required Activities
1
of 4
Cross the drawbridge and count how many of the castle's original twelve towers are still standing — nine, in varying states — then find the tour du Connétable of 1386 on the north-east, 45 m by 15 m under a conical slate roof with its square stair turret standing out from the wall, and the three 16th-century towers of 22 m diameter on the enceinte, one of them horseshoe-shaped
2
of 4
Set a line of type at Amagraph's museum of old printing in the castle buildings, then look in on the Centre de la fresque next door, where fresco painting is worked a fresco, and see which artists are hanging in the castle rooms this summer
3
of 4
Walk or cycle the towpath from the port on the canal north-north-east of the castle, and work out where the Isac used to run before the 19th-century canal took its course — the same water that once filled these moats — then carry on south into the forêt de la Groulaie
4
of 4
On the Logis du Roy, find the work Marie Bonaparte paid for while she owned Blain from 1918 to 1950 — tall pinnacled dormers, gargoyles, and chimneys patterned in brick and slate — then find the cellier de la Reine, the cellars that are all that is left of the Logis de la Reine after Richelieu, and the crypt, all that survives of the 16th-century chapel where the mathematician François Viète stayed with the Rohan
Cross the drawbridge and count how many of the castle's original twelve towers are still standing — nine, in varying states — then find the tour du Connétable of 1386 on the north-east, 45 m by 15 m under a conical slate roof with its square stair turret standing out from the wall, and the three 16th-century towers of 22 m diameter on the enceinte, one of them horseshoe-shaped
Set a line of type at Amagraph's museum of old printing in the castle buildings, then look in on the Centre de la fresque next door, where fresco painting is worked a fresco, and see which artists are hanging in the castle rooms this summer
Walk or cycle the towpath from the port on the canal north-north-east of the castle, and work out where the Isac used to run before the 19th-century canal took its course — the same water that once filled these moats — then carry on south into the forêt de la Groulaie
On the Logis du Roy, find the work Marie Bonaparte paid for while she owned Blain from 1918 to 1950 — tall pinnacled dormers, gargoyles, and chimneys patterned in brick and slate — then find the cellier de la Reine, the cellars that are all that is left of the Logis de la Reine after Richelieu, and the crypt, all that survives of the 16th-century chapel where the mathematician François Viète stayed with the Rohan
Before you go
The château opens from May to September only; out of season the canal towpath, the outer walls and the towers seen from outside are still worth the stop. The site is part public and part private — the lawns inside the great enceinte belong to the commune and are used for medieval re-enactments, while the Logis du Roy and the mill tower are in private hands and open only for events. Amagraph's printing museum keeps its own hours within the castle season, so ask at the gate.
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Challenge Location
XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
200 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
300 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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