
Bordering three ancient provinces – the Anjou, the Poitou and Brittany, the Clisson Valley has a fascinating history, which goes back to approximately the 11th century.Facing the free border of the « marches » territory, it has been the key to Brittany until the french Revolution. Many water mills would be bu
ilt in order to produce flour, paperpulp, tanned leather and woolen fabrics .
The extremely prosperous Middle Ages and Dukedom of Brittany eras are still visible in numerous buildings, and illustrious characters, such as Oliver V ‘The Constable’ or François II, father of Anne de Bretagne, lived in the Chateau…
Constable Oliver portrait
Clisson recovered thanks to three great French artists and art lovers coming back from Italy : The Cacault brothers Pierre and François and François-Frédéric Lemot a sculptor introduced Italian style architecture into the Valley during its reconstruction period….
François-Frédéric Lemot will create in Clisson his personal masterpiece painting creating his own Tivoli in la Garenne Lemot park. Thus, from that time onwards, Clisson has been having an air of Tuscany.
F CACAULT Portrait