Vannes

File:Hôtel de ville de Vannes-2294.jpg]]

{{See also|Veneti (Gaul)|Bro Gwened}}

The name Vannes comes from the Veneti, a seafaring Celtic people who lived in the south-western part of Armorica in Gaul before the Roman invasions. The region seems to have been involved in a cross channel trade for thousands of years, probably using hide boats and perhaps Ferriby Boats.{{cite book|last1=Cunliffe|first1=Barry|title=Britain and the continent: networks of interaction. A Companion to Roman Britain|year=2008|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|pages=1–11}} Wheat that apparently was grown in the Middle East was part of this trade.{{cite web|last1=Balter|first1=Michael|title=DNA recovered from underwater British site may rewrite history of farming in Europe|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/dna-recovered-underwater-british-site-may-rewrite-history-farming-europe|website=Science News|publisher=Science|access-date=16 March 2015}} At about 150 BC the evidence of trade (such as Gallo-Belgic coins) with the Thames estuary area of Great Britain dramatically increased.{{cite book|last1=Cunliffe|first1=Barry|title=Britain and the continent: networks of interaction." A Companion to Roman Britain|year=2008|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=9780470998854|pages=528|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PPfZCqRytugC&q=Cotentin+Peninsula+trade+Isle+of+Wight}}

The Veneti were defeated by Julius Caesar's fleet in 56 BC in front of Locmariaquer; many of the Veneti were then either slaughtered or sold into slavery. The Romans settled a town called Darioritum in a location previously belonging to the Veneti.

From the 5th to the 7th century, the remaining Gauls were displaced or assimilated by waves of immigrant Britons fleeing the Saxon invasions of Britain. Under the Breton name Gwened (also derived from the Veneti), the town was the center of an independent principality or kingdom variously called Bro-Wened ("Vannes") or Bro-Ereg ("land of Gwereg"), the latter for a prominent member of its dynasty, which claimed descent from Caradog Strongarm. The diocese of Vannes was erected in the 5th century. The Council of Vannes was held there in 461. The realm annexed Cornouaille for a time in the early 6th century but was permanently joined with Domnonia under its king and Saint Judicaël around 635.

In 1342, Vannes was besieged four times between forces from both sides of the Breton War of Succession. The city's defending commander, Olivier IV de Clisson, was captured by the English but finally released. The French eventually executed him since they suspected him of being a traitor since the ransom was unusually low.

In 1759, Vannes was used as the staging point for a planned French invasion of Britain. A large army was assembled there, but it was never able to sail after the French naval defeat at the Battle of Quiberon Bay in November 1759.

In 1795, during the French Revolution, French forces based in Vannes successfully repelled a planned British-Royalist invasion through Quiberon.

The Hotel de Ville was completed in 1886.{{Base Mérimée|PA00091814}}

Vannes, located on the Gulf of Morbihan at the mouth of two rivers, the Marle and the Vincin, is around {{convert|100|km|0|abbr=off}} northwest of Nantes and 450 km (280 miles) south west of Paris. Vannes is a market town linked to the sea.

{{Weather box

|location = Vannes / 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1998–present

|single line = Y

|metric first = Y

|Jan record high C = 16.7

|Feb record high C = 20.2

|Mar record high C = 23.7

|Apr record high C = 27.1

|May record high C = 29.9

|Jun record high C = 36.0

|Jul record high C = 40.2

|Aug record high C = 38.3

|Sep record high C = 32.7

|Oct record high C = 29.8

|Nov record high C = 20.6

|Dec record high C = 16.4

|year record high C = 40.2

|Jan avg record high C =

|Feb avg record high C =

|Mar avg record high C =

|Apr avg record high C =

|May avg record high C =

|Jun avg record high C =

|Jul avg record high C =

|Aug avg record high C =

|Sep avg record high C =

|Oct avg record high C =

|Nov avg record high C =

|Dec avg record high C =

|year avg record high C =

|Jan high C = 9.9

|Feb high C = 10.7

|Mar high C = 13.3

|Apr high C = 16.1

|May high C = 18.9

|Jun high C = 22.1

|Jul high C = 23.9

|Aug high C = 23.6

|Sep high C = 21.9

|Oct high C = 17.5

|Nov high C = 13.3

|Dec high C = 10.5

|year high C = 16.8

|Jan mean C = 6.8

|Feb mean C = 7.1

|Mar mean C = 9.1

|Apr mean C = 11.4

|May mean C = 14.3

|Jun mean C = 17.3

|Jul mean C = 19.0

|Aug mean C = 18.7

|Sep mean C = 16.7

|Oct mean C = 13.6

|Nov mean C = 9.7

|Dec mean C = 7.3

|year mean C = 12.6

|Jan low C = 3.7

|Feb low C = 3.5

|Mar low C = 4.8

|Apr low C = 6.6

|May low C = 9.7

|Jun low C = 12.6

|Jul low C = 14.2

|Aug low C = 13.7

|Sep low C = 11.5

|Oct low C = 9.7

|Nov low C = 6.2

|Dec low C = 4.1

|year low C = 8.4

|Jan avg record low C =

|Feb avg record low C =

|Mar avg record low C =

|Apr avg record low C =

|May avg record low C =

|Jun avg record low C =

|Jul avg record low C =

|Aug avg record low C =

|Sep avg record low C =

|Oct avg record low C =

|Nov avg record low C =

|Dec avg record low C =

|year avg record low C =

|Jan record low C = -7.4

|Feb record low C = -7.3

|Mar record low C = -8.6

|Apr record low C = -3.2

|May record low C = -0.6

|Jun record low C = 3.7

|Jul record low C = 7.0

|Aug record low C = 6.2

|Sep record low C = 2.5

|Oct record low C = -1.5

|Nov record low C = -5.8

|Dec record low C = -7.1

|year record low C = -8.6

|precipitation colour = green

|Jan precipitation mm = 99.8

|Feb precipitation mm = 77.0

|Mar precipitation mm = 70.1

|Apr precipitation mm = 66.0

|May precipitation mm = 54.0

|Jun precipitation mm = 48.4

|Jul precipitation mm = 51.2

|Aug precipitation mm = 57.4

|Sep precipitation mm = 56.3

|Oct precipitation mm = 101.7

|Nov precipitation mm = 101.1

|Dec precipitation mm = 116.0

|year precipitation mm = 899.0

|unit precipitation days = 1 mm

|Jan precipitation days = 14.5

|Feb precipitation days = 11.0

|Mar precipitation days = 10.7

|Apr precipitation days = 9.7

|May precipitation days = 8.8

|Jun precipitation days = 7.6

|Jul precipitation days = 7.8

|Aug precipitation days = 8.6

|Sep precipitation days = 7.4

|Oct precipitation days = 12.5

|Nov precipitation days = 12.6

|Dec precipitation days = 13.8

|year precipitation days = 125.0

|Jan sun = 74.5

|Feb sun = 106.8

|Mar sun = 156.9

|Apr sun = 201.4

|May sun = 222.0

|Jun sun = 244.3

|Jul sun = 254.5

|Aug sun = 225.1

|Sep sun = 202.0

|Oct sun = 120.9

|Nov sun = 93.2

|Dec sun = 79.4

|year sun = 1980.8

|source 1 = Meteociel{{cite web|url=http://www.meteociel.fr/obs/clim/normales_records.php?code=56243001|title=Normales et records pour Vannes-Sene (56)|publisher=Meteociel|access-date=14 September 2020}}

}}

Train

The Vannes railway station offers connections to Quimper, Rennes, Nantes, Paris and several regional destinations.

With the fast train TGV, the journey takes:

– 30 minutes to Lorient,

– 1 hour to Nantes or Rennes,

– 2.5 to 4 hours to Paris.

The Transport express régional or TER is a slower train to join railway stations in the close neighborhood, such as Auray or Questembert.

There is no direct line from Vannes to Saint-Brieuc (118 km away in the north of Brittany), so the train from Vannes to Saint Brieuc goes via Rennes, which doubles the travel time and cost: it takes 2 to 3 hours to go from Vannes to Saint Brieuc by train.

Car

Two highways, in the north of Vannes, provide fast connections by car:

– N165: west to Lorient (58 km) and Quimper (122 km), south east to Nantes (111 km)

– N166: north east to Rennes (113 km)

+ a network of small roads connects Vannes to smaller cities.

There is no highway from Vannes to Saint-Brieuc, so the way to northern Brittany consists of small roads. The lack of highway or railway between Vannes and Saint-Brieuc (118 km north) cuts the communications between northern and southern Brittany, and limits Brittany economic performance.

Airplanes

Vannes has a small airfield in the village of Monterblanc, called Vannes-Meucon airport, or "Vannes – Golfe du Morbihan airport". It used to be a military airport, but it is now dedicated to general aviation aircraft. It belongs to Vannes Agglomeration community, the group of cities gathered around Vannes, and the main users of this airfield are Vannes flying club, the local ultralight aviation club, and Vannes school of skydiving.

Bus

There are 2 bus networks in Vannes:

– Kicéo, proposes short travels starting from Vannes Place de la Republique on behalf of Vannes Agglomeration community,

– CAT, propose longer travel starting from the railway station on behalf of Morbihan.

So there are 2 central bus stations in Vannes: one on Place de la Libération, the other at the railway station.

Bike

Vannes has a public bicycle rental program, called Vélocéo based on the same idea as the Paris Vélib'.

Hundreds of bicycles are available across 10 automated rental stations each with 10 to fifteen bikes/spaces.{{Cite web|title=Vélocéo|url=https://veloceo.kiceo.fr/fr|access-date=2020-09-27|website=veloceo.kiceo.fr}}

Each Vélocéo service station is equipped with an automatic rental terminal and stands for bicycles.

This replaces the Velocea service, which was discontinued in August 2017.{{Cite web|date=2018-05-25|title=Vélocéo. Premiers coups de pédales le 9 juin|url=https://www.letelegramme.fr/morbihan/vannes/veloceo-premiers-coups-de-pedales-le-9-juin-25-05-2018-11970910.php|access-date=2020-09-27|website=Le Telegramme|language=fr}}

Inhabitants of Vannes are called Vannetais.

{{Historical populations

| align = none

| cols = 2

| percentages = pagr

| source = EHESS{{Cassini-Ehess|38837|Vannes}} and INSEE (1968–2017)[https://www.insee.fr/fr/statistiques/4515315?geo=COM-56260#ancre-POP_T1 Population en historique depuis 1968], INSEE

| graph-pos = bottom

|1793 |9131

|1800 |9131

|1806 |10902

|1821 |11289

|1831 |10395

|1836 |11623

|1841 |11737

|1846 |12974

|1851 |12356

|1856 |14329

|1861 |14564

|1866 |14560

|1872 |14690

|1876 |17946

|1881 |19284

|1886 |20036

|1891 |21504

|1896 |22189

|1901 |23375

|1906 |23561

|1911 |23748

|1921 |21402

|1926 |22089

|1931 |22413

|1936 |24068

|1946 |28189

|1954 |28403

|1962 |30411

|1968 |36576

|1975 |40359

|1982 |42178

|1990 |45644

|1999 |51759

|2007 |52984

|2012 |52648

|2017 |53352

}}

File:Bretagne les remparts de Vannes.jpg

File:Bustes Vannes et sa femme.jpg

• Cathedral of St Peter, Gothic cathedral
• Church of St Patern, classic church
• Chapel of Saint-Yves, baroque church
• Château Gaillard (medieval house now used as an archaeological museum)
• Musée de la Cohue (fine arts museum)
• Hôtel de Ville
• Old city walls, which include :
• Tour du Connétable (a large medieval tower part of the old city walls)
• Château de l'Hermine (former castle, transformed into a palace in the 17th century, and a residence of the Dukes of Brittany between the 13th and 16th centuries)
• Porte Calmont, medieval city gate
• Porte Prison, medieval city gate
• Porte Poterne, medieval city gate
• Porte Saint-Jean, medieval city gate
• Porte Saint-Vincent, 18th century city gate
• Many timber-framed houses in the old town
• "Vannes and his wife", a funny painted granite sculpture from the 15th century in front of Château Gaillard
• The harbour

• École nationale supérieure d'ingénieurs de Bretagne Sud
• Institut catholique d'arts et métiers
• Southern Brittany University

The municipality launched a linguistic plan through Ya d'ar brezhoneg on 12 October 2007. In 2008, 7.71% of children attended the bilingual schools in primary education.{{in lang|fr}} Ofis ar Brezhoneg: [http://www.ofis-bzh.org/fr/services/observatoire/travaux.php?travail_id=83 Enseignement bilingue]

• In the last of the Three Musketeers novels of Alexandre Dumas, The Vicomte of Bragelonne: Ten Years Later, published in 1847, the musketeer Aramis appears as bishop of Vannes before becoming General of the Society of Jesus.
• In Sébastien Roch, a novel by Octave Mirbeau published in 1890, Sebastien is sent to a school in Vannes, Saint-François-Xavier, where he is a victim of sexual abuse.
• In Sir Nigel, a novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle published in 1906, Nigel is made seneschal of the Castle of Vannes after a battle in Brittany. He does not remain in Vannes, since after winning in another battle, the Black Prince dubs him a knight and Nigel returns to England to wed the Lady Mary.
• Jean-François Parot has written a series of crime fictions printed up to 2010 taking place in the 18th century, whose main character is Nicolas Le Floch, a Police Commissioner who was also educated in the school of Saint François-Xavier in Vannes, but he didn't share Sebastien Roch's misfortune. The Nicolas Le Floch novels have been adapted as a television series.
• In The Secret of the Missing Boat, a children's book by Paul Berna published in 1966 as La Voile Rouge.
• Mabel Esther Allan's book 'Balconies and Blue Nets' documents the life of a schoolgirl attending holiday school in Vannes

• Albinus of Angers (born 469), Roman Catholic saint
• Saint Emilion (Emilianus) (?–767), monk and Roman Catholic saint, he gave his name to one of the main red wine areas of Bordeaux
• François I (1414–1450), Duke of Brittany
• Louis-Marie Autissier (1772–1830), painter
• Armand Alexandre de Castagny (1807–1900), military general
• Louise Bourgoin (born 1981), actress
• Pierre de La Gorce (1846–1934), historian
• Paul César Helleu (1859–1927), painter
• Émile Jourdan (1860–1931), painter of Pont-Aven School
• Louis Martin-Chauffier (1894–1980), writer, journalist and member of the French Resistance
• Yves Rocard (1903–1992), physicist
• Colonel Rémy (1904–1984), secret agent of the French Resistance
• Alain Resnais (1922–2014), film director
• Jean Vezin (1933–2020), palaeographer
• Yves Coppens (born 1934), paleontologist
• Serge Latouche (born 1940), economist
• Cédric Morgan (born 1943), writer, winner of the Prix Breizh in 2015
• Claude-Michel Schönberg (born 1944), singer and songwriter
• Bernard Poignant (born 1945), politician
• Hélène de Fougerolles (born 1973), actress
• Mathieu Berson (born 1980), footballer
• Joris Marveaux (born 1982), footballer
• Sylvain Marveaux (born 1986), footballer
• Yann Kermorgant (born 1981), footballer
• Julian Chartier (born 1999), gymnast{{Cite web |date=2024-04-04 |title=Le Vannetais Julian Chartier champion d'Europe de trampoline avec l'équipe de France |url=https://www.letelegramme.fr/sports/gymnastique/le-vannetais-julian-chartier-champion-deurope-de-trampoline-avec-lequipe-de-france-6557987.php |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=Le Télégramme |language=fr-FR}}
• Jeremy Callaghan, Australian actor and writer{{cite web |url=https://www.homestolove.com.au/restoration-of-a-19th-century-apartment-in-france-4233 |title=Restoration of a classic French apartment |website=homestolove.com.au |date=18 October 2016 |access-date=12 May 2020}}

Rugby Club Vannes is a professional rugby union club currently competing in the Top 14 competition, the highest level of the French domestic championship. In the 2024-25 season they have gained automatic qualification for the European Professional Club Rugby Challenge Cup

The local football team is Vannes OC, who play in the 5th tier Championnat National 3 as of the 2023–24 season.

Both teams play at the Stade de la Rabine built in 2001.

The town was the start line for stage 9 of the 2015 Tour de France.

{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in France}}

Vannes is twinned with:{{cite web |title=Relations internationales|url=https://www.mairie-vannes.fr/vannes-citoyenne/relations-internationales/|website=mairie-vannes.fr|publisher=Vannes|language=fr|access-date=2021-04-13}}

• {{flagicon|BEL}} Mons, Belgium (1952)
• {{flagicon|GER}} Cuxhaven, Germany (1963)
• {{flagicon|ENG}} Fareham, England, United Kingdom (1967)
• {{flagicon|POL}} Wałbrzych, Poland (2001)
• {{flagicon|UK}} Ballymoney, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom (2001)

• Saint-Vincent Gate (Vannes)
• Veneti (Gaul)
• Saint Meriasek
• Operation Dingson
• Communes of the Morbihan department
• Pierre Marie François Ogé Sculpture in Vannes town hall.
• Eleanor, a Nile crocodile resident of the Aquarium du Vannes.

File:Bretagne Morbihan Vannes1 tango7174.jpg|Panorama of the old town

File:Vannes Altstadt.jpg|In the old town centre

File:Bretagne Morbihan Vannes3 tango7174.jpg|Place des Lices

File:Vannes lavoir.jpg|Old washing-places

File:Vannes.hto3.jpg|Château de l'Hermine

File:Vannesport.hto3.jpg|Port de Vannes

File:Hôtel Lagorce, Jardin du Château de l’Hermine, Vannes-2212.jpg|Garden of the Château de l'Hermine

File:Vannes - Centre ville.jpg|Street in town center

File:Cathédrale Saint-Pierre de Vannes-2253.jpg|Vannes Cathedral

File:Clocher Saint Paterne.jpg|St. Patern church

File:Port de Vannes quai Eric Tabarly.jpg|The port, at the foot of St. Vincent gate

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

{{Commons category|Vannes}}

• [http://en.mairie-vannes.fr/ Official web site of the city]
• {{Wikivoyage-inline}}
• {{Search Mérimée|56260}}

{{Préfectures of départements of France}}

{{Morbihan communes}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Communes of Morbihan

Category:Prefectures in France

Category:Port cities and towns on the French Atlantic coast

Category:Gallia Lugdunensis