Page 284 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

In 1720 a fire that lasted for
six days devastated the city.
Today a small part of the
medieval city survives, along
with the neat grid of 18th-
century buildings that arose
from the ashes. Around this
historic core cluster the tower
blocks and high-tech factories
of a modern and confident
provincial capital, with two
universities and a thriving
cultural life.
Wandering through the
streets that radiate from place
River running between des Lices and place Ste-Anne,
pretty old houses and it is very easy to imagine what
gardens in Pont-Aven Rennes was like before the
Great Fire. Now mostly pedes-
trianized, this area is the city’s
30 colourful Synthetism style. youthful heart with bars,
Drawing inspiration from the
crêperies and designer shops.
Pont-Aven Breton landscape and people, At the western end of rue de
the École de Pont-Aven (Pont- la Monnaie stands the 15th-
! A3 ⌂ Finistère @ n 5 pl Aven School) worked here century Portes Mordelaises,
Julia; www.pontaven.com
and in nearby Le Pouldu once part of the ramparts.
Once a tiny market town of until 1896. Close by, the Cathédrale
“14 mills and 15 houses”, Pont- The town is devoted to art, St-Pierre was completed in
Aven’s picturesque location with 50 private galleries, along 1844, the third on this site.
in the wooded Aven estuary with the informative Musée Note the carved 16th-century
made it attractive to many de Pont-Aven, which docu- Flemish altarpiece. Nearby is
late 19th-century artists. ments the achievements of the 18th-century Église St-
In 1888 Paul Gauguin, along the Pont-Aven School. The Sauveur. In the place de la
with Émile Bernard and Paul surrounding woods offer pleas- Mairie stands the early 18th-
Sérusier, developed a crude, ant walks – one leads to the century Hôtel de Ville and the
Chapelle de Trémalo, where Neo-Classical Opéra de
the wooden Christ in Gauguin’s Rennes. Just south of the
PAUL GAUGUIN Le Christ Jaune still hangs. attractive rue St-George, the
IN BRITTANY Église St-Germain has a
At the age of 35, Paul Musée de Pont-Aven typically Breton belfry and
Gaugin (1848–1903) "'= ⌂ Place Julia § 02 wooden vaulting. The Parc du
left his career as a stock- 98 06 14 43 # Feb, Mar, Nov
broker to become a full- & Dec: 2–5:30pm Tue–Sun;
time painter. From 1886 Apr–Jun, Sep & Oct: 10–6pm
to 1894 he lived and Tue–Sun, Jul & Aug: 10am–
worked in Brittany, at 7pm daily ¢ Jan, 25 Dec
Pont-Aven and Le
Pouldu, where he
incorporated the 31
landscape and its people
into his work, and the Rennes
intense, almost “primi-
tive” quality of the ! B3 ⌂ Ille-et-Vilaine
k £ @ n 11 rue St-Yves;
Breton Roman Catholic
faith. This is evident in wwww.tourisme-rennes.
Le Christ Jaune (The com
Yellow Christ), in which Founded by the Gauls and
the Crucifixion is colonized by the Romans,
depicted as reality Rennes is strategically sited
against the rural where the Rivers Vilaine and
backdrop of contem- Ille meet. Following Brittany’s
porary Brittany. union with France in 1532, the
town became regional capital.
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