A tollbooth, and a prison....
Just under half an hour from Brest, there is a very pleasant little town: Landerneau. And there, since 1510, there is a bridge that has the characteristic of being inhabited.
Around 1300, there was already a bridge, but it was made of wood, and it was from 1510 that the current bridge was built, by the Viscount John II of Rohan who, to be reimbursed for his investment, installed a tollbooth there...! And yes... nothing new under the sun!
On this bridge, there were various establishments including, for example, from the beginning, a mill, two shops, and a prison...
Against all odds....
In the 17th century, the bridge began to accommodate small houses. In the Middle Ages, manned bridges were quite frequent, but they almost all disappeared.
Landerneau's inhabited bridge has a unique feature: it is the only one that lies between fresh water and seawater, and is subject to the comings and goings of the tides. When they are strong, and the wind pushes them a little, they happily submerge the parapet, which does not seem to disturb the inhabitants: the bookseller has installed his shelves on wheels, and the restaurateur, with a smile, indicates that it is enough to wait a little!
Goodbye cars, hello pedestrians!
During the occupation, the German army had doubled it with a wooden bridge, which it left in place. In 1958, it was replaced by a concrete bridge, which made it possible to exempt the old bridge from road traffic for which it was obviously not prepared!
Today, it has therefore become a particularly pleasant pedestrian area!
