Guémené-sur-Scorff is a small French town of character or petite cité de caractère in the south of Brittany (Bretagne), and it’s part of our series on these small towns of character. To be included in the Association Petites Cités de Caractère de Bretagne, a town must be rural in terms of their small population while at the same time urban in terms of their history and heritage.
Guémené-sur-Scorff: Petite City of Character
Guémené-sur-Scroff, or simply Guémené, as it’s sometimes called, fits these qualifications nicely and there is so much I love about this town which is only about 20 kilometres away from the bustling and popular town of Pontivy (which is situated beside the Napoleonic Canal de Nantes à Brest (the Nantes to Brest Canal).
The town has a rich long history and because the town is still relevant today in terms of the festivals, attractions and tourism it participates in, it is well qualified to be included in the small towns of character list for Brittany.
Why I Love the French town Guémené-sur-Scorff
I love the castle of the Princes of Rohan-Guémen and its museum; the amazing brocante store bursting with treasures; the unassuming cafes with their delectable food; the regular street seafood stall and the fascinating ancient buildings.
What however makes this town so loved by me, is that I often visit it with some of my favourite friends who live nearby in Fourdan Guern and operate a beautiful complex of gités (French style B&Bs). So when visiting their home and after spending time soaking up the sun on their lawn or, if in winter, chatting around the warm open fire, we sometimes head into Guémené for a walk or meal.
I’ve even found a paddock of sunflowers nestled in amongst fields not too far away from the town. We accidentally found the sunflowers one day as we took a wrong turn heading home from Fourdan Guern.
Guémené is a medieval citadel that is almost a thousand years old, and being nestled in the hollows of the valleys that border the River Scorff, it also provides a stunning backdrop for photo opportunities.
History of Guémené-sur-Scorff
The name Guémené is derived from the family name of Guegan as the town was founded during the first half of the 11th century by Lord Guegan who made it his central command centre. The town became prosperous quickly and held great fairs that drew many visitors.
The castle and its surrounding town are testament to the prosperousness of the Princes of Rohan-Guémené with the whole town belonging to the Rohan family from 1377 onwards. In 1570 it was elevated to the status of a princedom by letters patent of Charles IX. The family of the Princes of Rohan-Guémené was one of the greatest and most influential in France until the French Revolution.
What To Do In Guémené-sur-Scorff
Try pancakes soaked in cider and potato cakes (a specialty of the region), or Guémené andouille (chitterling sausage) at any of the charming cosy cafes. One of Brittany’s oldest taverns, Les Trois Marchands, has been serving customers since the mid 17th century and it’s a lively and welcoming place to eat.
Go Antique Shopping in Guémené-sur-Scorff
The antique and secondhand stores in Guémené are much larger than they seem from the street, with secret dark rooms full to the brim with ancient furniture, silverware, glassware, books and copper pots.
Wander the Streets
Take to the streets to see the gabled buildings, half-timbered houses, the leper house and the clever terraced backyards amongst the ancient homes, all of which were once part of the town and then later princedom of the Rohan family.
Walk Along the Banks of River Scorff
The river side is picturesque and its banks are lined with neat houses, manor-houses, chapels and fountains, and well worth a look when in Guémené-sur-Scorff.
Castle and Bains de la Reine, Guémené-sur-Scorff
Visiting the castle and its museum is interesting and particularly the ‘Bains de la Reine’ medieval stove, which reveals hygiene secrets of dwellers in the Middle Ages.
“Built by Jean Ier de Rohan for his wife Jeanne de Navarre with its roman hypocausts and Turkish bath, it is one of the last and most well preserved noble bathing houses of its kind in France.” – Office de Tourisme du Pays du Roi Morvan
With lots of signs and diagrams we were able to find out the history of the castle and its importance for the region. The 14th century Porterie is the entrance to what was the old castle and while it’s honestly not much to look at, the short climb of the remaining tower is a great vantage point for photography.
Andouille Festival, Guémené-sur-Scorff
The Andouille Festival is held on the second weekend after the 15th of August each year and just in case you’ve never heard of andouille, it’s a sausage made from chitterlings, tripe, onions and wine, has a pungent stink and has a very, very strong taste of offal. It’s a mainstay of Brittany, but almost nowhere else in France (they are an independent bunch, remember their strong Celtic ancestors) and this little town of Guémené has a festival celebrating this distinctive sausage.
The tiny village of Guémené-sur-Scorff, with a usual population of just 1,200, swells to around 30,000 people for its Andouille Festival with French visitors and tourists travelling distances to join together in dancing, Celtic music, traditional dress parades and regional food and cider to pay tribute to this sausage.
The andouille is commonly steamed and then eaten cold and sliced to reveal its tree-like circles of intestines.
To find out more about Guémené visit the Office de Tourisme du Pays du Roi Morvan. Other charming towns in our Small Towns of Character in Brittany series that are worth exploring on your next trip to France are flower filled Pontrieux and Pont-Croix, the famous book town Bécherel, and Châteaugiron and Chatelaudren which are quaint and near to our French holiday home.
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