Place de la Liberté

Concarneau is a fishing port on the south coast of Finistère, in Brittany, and its best-known feature is the Ville Close, the walled old town on a small island in the harbour. The walled town and the central squares around it are the setting for a visit to the Place de la Liberté.

The Ville Close is reached by a footbridge from the quayside and a drawbridge and gate in the ramparts. Its granite walls, with towers and bastions, date mainly from the fourteenth to the seventeenth centuries, and the engineer Vauban added to the defences, so a walk along the ramparts, which can be climbed, gives views over the harbour, the fishing boats and the town on the mainland. The island is small, about 350 metres long, and its main street, the Rue Vauban, is lined with granite houses that hold crêperies, shops selling Breton goods, galleries and cafés. The place is busy with visitors in summer and quiet in the early morning and the evening, when the sound of gulls and the rigging of the boats gives it a more authentic atmosphere.

The squares and small open spaces in the walled town are gathering points, where markets and events take place on certain days, and where you can sit outside a café. Around them stand houses with traditional Breton facades, in grey granite with slate roofs, and the Musée de la Pêche, the fishing museum, is in the old arsenal near the ramparts. The church of Saint-Guénolé, the patron saint of the island, stands on the main square and is a place of worship.

Concarneau grew rich on sardines and tuna, and its canneries and boatyards shaped the town. Every August, the Festival des Filets Bleus fills the Ville Close and the quays with Breton music, dance and costume, and the event has been held since the early twentieth century. Outside the walls, the Old Port, the fish market and the Concarneau Aquarium, the Musée de la Mer, as well as the beaches such as Les Sables Blancs, add to the choice of things to see.

The walled town is open at any time, and walking through it is free. It suits families, photographers and anyone who likes harbours and ramparts. Allow an hour or two, longer if you walk the ramparts and visit the museum.