Prefecture

This imposing U-shaped building is the prefecture of Morbihan. It was built on a former convent and inaugurated in 1865. Our focus here is on the pediment, which recounts the history of Vannes. It features two of Brittany’s most important figures: Nominoë and Alain Barbetorte. If you aren’t from Brittany you probably never heard of them.

Nominoë was a hero of the 9th century and generally referred to as the father of the Kingdom of Brittany. He liberated the peoples of Armorica and led a united Brittany to seven centuries of independence!  . If you visit the region, you’ll see streets named after him in Rennes, Vannes, Saint-Malo, Saint-Brieuc, Brest and Quimper.

Alain Barbetorte was both the last king of Brittany and its first duke. Back then, Brittany was in the throes of the great Viking invasions. The Vikings weren’t content with just pillaging, they planned to settle down and create principalities in these lands. It was total chaos. However, thanks to Alain Barbetorte, then in exile at the court of King Athelstan, the 1st King of England in case you haven’t heard of him, and incidentally Alain’s godfather, Brittany was finally freed from the invaders on 1 August 939.

The kingdom may have been liberated from the Scandinavians, but it still remained in the midst of other conflicts and was living out its final hours. It kept its borders, but became a duchy with Alain Barbetorte as its first duke. That’s it for the historical part.

In addition to these two iconic figures from glorious wartime, there are a number of other interesting facts. Standing between the two men, you can see the imperial eagle of the Second Empire that was used when the prefecture was built, as well as locomotives, representing the arrival of the railway in Vannes in 1862, an event that was to propel Vannes into a new economic and architectural revival.

You can learn a lot by examining the details of a pediment. I’ll let you admire it at your leisure, before continuing along Alain le Grand Street, then turn left into Francis Decker Street.