Strolling in the summer sunshine on the Place Saint-Sauveur quayside in the Saint-Goustan district of Auray, a town on the River Loch in Southern Brittany, France.
Auray, Morbihan, southern Brittany, France: the Saint-Goustan district of this inland Breton town between Lorient and Vannes, once based around a busy commercial port on the River Loch or Loc'h, is now a popular tourist destination, with restaurants and pavement cafes trading from its well-restored medieval buildings. The Place Saint-Sauveur quayside is lined by colourful awnings and sun umbrellas shading tables for al fresco diners. Auray is said to be the last place reached by Julius Caesar on his conquest of Gaul. Its later history is bloody. The Battle of Auray, on Michaelmas Day 1364, ended the Breton War of Succession, witnessed the defeat and death of Charles de Blois and secured the dukedom of Brittany for young Jean de Montfort, later son-in-law to King Edward III of England. In 1795, following the 1789 French Revolution, royalist counter-revolutionaries known as Chouans were transferred to Auray as captives. After a summary trial, a military commission of Auray citizens condemned them to death; 750 of them were shot and buried in a meadow now called the Champ des Martyrs or Martyrs' Field. In December 1776, Saint Goustan was also involved - tangentially - in the American Revolutionary War or War of Independence against the British. Statesman, scientist, inventor and writer Benjamin Franklin (1706-90), a Founding Father of the United States, was forced by bad weather to land on the quayside while trying to reach Nantes to ask Louis XVI for military aid. In this image, the wharf to the right of the Place is now named the Quai Franklin, and his visit is also commemorated by an early-19th century plaque.
Size: 2832px × 4256px
Location: Place Saint-Sauveur, Saint-Goustan district, Auray, Morbihan, southern Brittany, France
Photo credit: © Terence Kerr / Alamy / Afripics
License: Royalty Free
Model Released: No
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