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Saint-Martin neo-Romanesque church
(1883) |
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 With
the establishment of the railway and the barracks of the
70th R.I. in the second half of the 19th century, the
old Saint-Martin church in the Saint-Martin cemetery,
whose only remaining feature is the belltower, became
too small and outlying with respect to the new neighbourhoods.
It was therefore decided to build a new one in local schist
stone. With its impressive size, it dominates the city
owing to its busy location, thus becoming a "counterweight"
to the Notre-Dame church, its eternal "rival".
The Mellet architects from Rennes, fervent Catholics whose
father Jacques was from Vitré, were commissioned
for the work. Admirers of Romanesque art, they chose the
neo-Romanesque style for the architectural grouping, although
the inner vaulting comprises ogives.
The plan is a directional latin cross with a continuous
transept. The central nave has five bays and is bordered
by two aisles that continue with an ambulatory around
the choir. The elevation is the traditional three levels:
wide arcades, wide galleries, high windows. The focal
point of the edifice is the cupola at the transept crossing.
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A
shop on the ground floor, place of production and sale,
opening on to the street by a stall,
The
rue d'Embas and rue de la Baudrairie have many timber-framed
houses dating from the 15th-17th centuries
when houses developed in height.
The
rue de la Poterie is the only street in Vitré to
have preserved, in such great numbers, timber-framed houses
of a special type, called porch houses.
The
choice of baron Robert 1st to build the castle
on this site, a rocky shale outcrop looking over the Vilaine
to the north, was made around 1060. During the first half
of the 13th century, the baron André
III built a castle in its current triangular form: a fortified
enclosure of towers connected by courtines (defensive
walls).
The
current appearance of the Notre-Dame church, reconstructed
between 1440 and approximately 1580, is in the style of
the 15th and 16th centuries. It is a transitional building
between the end of the Middle Ages and the early Renaissance
that adapted itself to the changes in taste. Within its
flamboyant gothic decor you can discern Renaissance ornamental
motifs (lefthand section of the south facade).
The
construction of this high Renaissance mansion, erected
by Ringues de la Troussannais, must date between 1530-1550,
period in which this style fully penetrated Brittany.
Following
the rue du Bas-Val, you will reach the Promenade du Val
and discover the Saint-Pierre postern, the conserved northern
and eastern parts of the city wall, as well as the valley
of the Vilaine and former Rachapt area.
The
promenade du Val (Valley walk) runs along the north and
east sections of the city wall built in the 13th century.
The
Saint-Nicolas hospital chapel was rebuilt in the 1500's.
It has conserved the wall paintings, Robert de Grasménil's
funeral recess and a gilded wood high altar. A grill opens
into the monastery of the Augustine hospital nuns, who
moved there in 1655 to care for the patients.
The
porte d'En-Haut (high gateway) is one of the four gateways
providing access to the Middle Ages walled city. As its
name indicates, it is located at the high part of the
city to the east and opens onto the old Saint-Martin faubourg
(road to Laval and Paris). It has two towers connected
by a dwelling over a porch surmounted by machicolation.
The
rue de Paris, formerly the Saint-Martin faubourg (district),
leads to the cemetery and the old Saint-Martin church.
The old road to Paris and Rennes followed this street.
This
building erected by the Hay des Nétumières
family dates from the first half of the 18th century.
It is built on the site of the residence owned by Madame
de Sévigné in the 17th century, the "Hôtel
de la Tour de Sévigné", so named after
a city wall tower that was annexed by the house. The new
18th century residence was built on the old south wall
of the city, which would serve as a base. The levelled
tower of the wall became a terrace and led down to the
formal French-style gardens that adorned the old moats
of the city to the south (tower and moats have now disappeared).
To the north, the entrance to the courtyard opens onto
the present day rue de Sévigné. This is
a town house between courtyard and garden, whose architectural
type arose during the 17th century in Paris with the architects
Mansart or Le Vau. The sober facades are punctuated by
string courses separating the floors, cornices, corner
reinforcements and window frames, the only features made
from dressed stone. The walls are constructed from schist
quarry-stone covered with a lime whitewash, as was frequently
the case in Brittany (cf the Malouinières - country
houses built by St Malo shipowners in the late 17th century).
Constructed
in the 1850's by the architect Victor Lenoir at the request
of the Chemins de Fer de l'Ouest, the neo-Gothic station
of Vitré blend in harmoniously with the medieval
architectural landscape of the city. With alternating
courses of brick and limestone, the white and red colours
have a remarkably pleasant effect within the urban environment:
Lying outside the ramparts, the building expresses the
city's openness to modernity, represented in that period
by the fact of being served by the railway. 
This
former suburban manor, residence of the Barons of Vitré
that was more comfortable than the medieval castle, dates
from the 1st half of the 17th century. Indeed, a ceiling
painted in the French style showing the coat of arms of
Marie de la Tour-Bouillon, who married Henri de La Trémouïlle
in 1619, confirms this date.
The
Château des Rochers-Sévigné known
to Madame de Sévigné during her many stays
from 1644 to 1690, dates from the 1500. A 1763 plan enables
us to visualize it. It was adapted in the late 18th century
by the Hay des Nétumières family.
The
museum of La Faucillonnaie is a museum for the rural heritage
of the Vitré area, and occupies the 15th-17th century
manor of the same name. The interior has conserved a fine
monumental wooden staircase from the 17th century.
