- Castle of the Dukes of Brittany

Three objectives guided the restoration:
- to preserve and enhance the buildings which had never before been fully restored;
- to open the maximum area to the public;
- to make all parts of the building clear.

The Castle of the Dukes of Brittany is a complex building, built in several different stages, which has suffered a series of transformations and damage. The restoration project made a clear commitment to safeguarding the traces of successive transformations and uses occurring over the centuries and to making them comprehensible.

So what you see is not just a rebuilt "Duchess Anne's Castle", with all the intervening stages erased.

A essential question had to be answered: should the buildings be restored and returned to their original 15th century condition or should the heterogeneous appearance of the complex be retained?

The decision was made: each element received specific treatment based on the type of alterations it had undergone over the centuries. Respecting these changes was deemed imperative in order to show and communicate the history written in the Castle walls.

It is for this reason that the section of 15th century building which had remained unaltered, apart from its dormer windows, has been restored to its original condition. The restoration of the Principal Governor's Palace (Grand Gouvernement), damaged and rebuilt under Louis XIV, has respected the original state of the 15th century building, the architectural modifications of the Classical period and the early 20th century restoration in the style of that time.