Heritage & Culture
Château du Taureau
Brittany’s Alcatraz!
Initially built to fend off English invaders,
this imposing island fortress has since
been everything from a prison to a
holiday home. Few iconic buildings can
boast a more varied past, and few are
more fascinating to visit. Annaliza Davis
explores its fascinating history
30 | VOYAGE | SUMMER 2014
When you board the boat, you’re not sure
what to expect. The distant silhouette of the
Château du Taureau seems rather
inaccessible, after all. Next thing you know,
you’re whipping across the waves, the sea
spray glittering on either side of the boat
and the fresh air giving your cheeks a healthy
glow. The fortress looms large and daunting,
and as soon as you clamber onto its stone
jetty you gaze at the surrounding waves and
realise just how isolated you are.
Then you realise that the Château du Taureau
must certainly have made a good prison.
maison du tourisme baie de monts d’arrée
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maison du tourisme baie de monts d’arrée
“The fortress looms
large and daunting,
and as soon as you
clamber onto its
stone jetty you gaze
at the surrounding
waves and realise
just how isolated
you are”­
How the fortress evolved
Back in the 1500s, the prosperous linen
traders of Morlaix were repeatedly looted
and pillaged by English raiders, so in 1542 an
offshore fortress was built on a rock (the
Rocher du Taureau) just between the two
channels into Morlaix. In 1660, King Louis
XIV took over the building and its upkeep,
commissioning famous military architect
Vauban to redesign and reinforce it. The
works were finally completed in 1745, creating
a highly effective coastal deterrent 60
metres long, 12 metres tall and 12 metres
across, staffed by soldiers and armed with
11 cannon as well as roof artillery. No vessels
could reach the waterway to Morlaix without
passing the Château and sailing in range of
its weapons.
A curious prison
Next comes the strangest part of the
Château’s history: from 1721, anyone who felt
a family member was misbehaving could
request that he be imprisoned in the Château.
If the king agreed – and if you could afford the
fee – you never had to see your bothersome
1 The famous fortress from the air 2 Your first views
from the boat 3 Drawing up to this island prison
4 Entering the central courtyard
Listen up!
One great bonus for
English-speaking visitors
to the Château du Taureau
is the comprehensive
Audioguide in English,
which you can also
listen to online for free.
www.chateaudutaureau.com
SUMMER 2014 | VOYAGE | 31
“Families could pay
extra for luxuries such
as writing materials,
and at the moment
they stopped, the
prisoner was released”­
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Great visits nearby
While you’re on this northern coast, you must
visit the cobbled backstreets and timbered
buildings of Morlaix, which has a pretty harbour,
bustling Saturday market and soaring viaduct.
The coastal roads here are wonderful, so take a
picturesque drive to the surprisingly charming
Roscoff to find ancient architecture and
Michelin-starred restaurants.
If island life appeals, you can hop on a boat
from Roscoff to the nearby Île de Batz,
renowned for its exotic garden, quaint cottages
and quiet beaches. It has crêperies, restaurants
and bars, so is rather more hospitable than
Taureau and makes a great day trip.
crtb-simon bourcier
To glamour, ruin and repair
Decommissioned in 1890, the Château was
classed as an historic monument in 1914 and
by 1930 was rented to a wealthy widow, Mme
de Vilmorin, for 1,000 francs a year. She
renovated, filled the courtyards with
hydrangeas, painted the cells in bright colours
and installed toilets, holding private parties
for her friends.
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relative again. The Château became a rather
extreme naughty step, filled with
troublemakers, sons who disrespected their
mothers, drunkards and scoundrels. Families
could pay extra for luxuries such as writing
materials, and the moment they stopped
paying, the prisoner was released.
The fort could house 11 prisoners in cells
14m², but during the French Revolution
(1787-1799) 60 captives were held here. The
final prisoner was revolutionary socialist
Louis Auguste Blanqui in 1871. While it was
not ideal for those incarcerated, the guards
appear to have had an even worse deal. One
letter confirms: “We have no sheets, no straw,
no candles, and are eaten alive by vermin...”
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photobank/alamy
Heritage & Culture
Practical Info
• The Château du Taureau is open for visits from
April to late September
• The crossing takes 15 minutes from Carantec,
45 minutes from Plougasnou
• Visits €14 for adults, €7 for children (0-4 years
free)
• Themed visits cost an extra €5 (adults) or €3
(children)
• You can book tickets online (www.
chateaudutaureau.com), at the ticket office in
Carantec (Kelenn Beach) or at any local tourist
office (Morlaix, Locquirec, Carantec,
Guerlesquin, Plougasnou and Saint-Thégonnec)
• Do wear flat shoes as getting on and off the boat
can be slippery
• Go before you go – there are no toilets on the
island!
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1 Old half timbered houses overlooking Place des Halles in the Brittany town of Morlaix
2 Morlaix’s viaduct and bike-hire centre 3 The stunning Morlaix Bay
SUMMER 2014 | VOYAGE | 33
Heritage & Culture
rooftop gazing at the wide horizons and
there’s even an on-site gift shop.
To bring the stones to life, themed visits
are organised each year with story telling or
theatrical performances (in French) and
ornithological days for those who want to
enjoy a unique view into the Bird Reserve
and the rare species nesting there.
The new life of the Château
Now, even those former enemies of Morlaix,
the English, are welcome on this impressive
site, with regular visits offered from April to
late September. It is surrounded by the Bird
Reserve of Morlaix Bay, a natural haven and
peaceful escape that’s worlds away from the
place of banishment for improper noblemen.
In summer, children run around exploring the
cells and stairways, visitors linger on the
How does it feel to be here?
Stepping out of the boat, you understand why
early vessels capsized as they neared the
Château: it’s not the easiest place to access!
As you climb the steps and enter the
courtyard, you feel a sense of trepidation,
especially when you see the rows of
reinforced doors.
Even as a day visitor, you can’t help feeling for
those prisoners of long ago, banished to this
“Now, even those former enemies
of Morlaix, the English, are
welcome on this impressive site”­
ILE LOUET with Taureau in background
34 | VOYAGE | SUMMER 2014
lonely rock, and you also pity the soldiers
responsible for them, who were just as isolated
and often worse off than those they were
guarding. Taureau evokes a claustrophobic,
suffocating sensation at times, as you’re aware
there really would have been no simple way off
the island; yet on the other hand, you’ll
experience an incredibly liberating feeling
wherever you glimpse that stunning panoramic
view. It’s a strange thrill to see all that water
lapping at the walls, stretching out on every side.
Long after your visit, the images stay with
you, so that every time you see the iconic
silhouette on the horizon, you’ll smile to
yourself, knowing that you’ve been to
Brittany’s Alcatraz – and escaped!
@VisitMorlaix offers the latest news and
info on Morlaix Bay
Fancy being stranded
for longer?
If the Château du Taureau has given you a taste
for being stranded, try staying on nearby Île
Louët. This tiny island has a lighthouse keeper’s
cottage that sleeps up to 10 people, so you can
rent the whole island and play at being Robinson
Crusoe! It’s not exactly luxurious – there’s no hot
running water and the bathroom is in what used
to be a pigsty – but it’s a real escape from the
trappings of modern life.
www.tourisme-morlaix.fr/weekend-on-IleLouet-Carantec.html
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Briefly a German defence in the war and a
base for Morlaix sailing school courses from
1960 to 1980, the Château then fell silent
once more. It deteriorated every year until
the Historic Monuments undertook major
renovation works from 1998 to 2006, also
finally installing the slipway in Vauban’s
original plans.