Town in the Morbihan department (56): 2,800
Personalities: Cadoudal, Lords of Callac, Captain Pierre Marienne (Resistance fighter), Émile Bouetard (first D-Day casualty), Frédéric Sammaritano (footballer), Colline Hill (folk singer).
Specialities: andouille of Guémené, cider, potato galette.
Sport: GP de Plumelec, Tour de France, French championships, European championships (cycling)
Economy: food industry
Motto: vive valeque (live and die)
Website: www.plumelec.org
THE FIRST VICTIM OF THE LANDING
At 0.45 am on 6 June 1944, a few hours before the Allied landings on the Normandy coast, two groups of parachutists under Colonel Bourgoin were dropped on the Lanvaux moors. They were the first of the Allied expeditionary force, but they did not land where they were supposed to. Lieutenant Marienn's group landed 800 m from the German observation post set up in the La Grée mill in Plumelec and was quickly spotted. Three radios operators were taken prisoner and Corporal Émile Bouétard, a 29-year-old Breton from Pleudihen in the Côtes d'Armor, was killed by the enemy. He was the first casualty of the Allied landings.
For two months, from 6 June to 6 August, the date of the liberation of the commune's sector, Plumelec endured a veritable martyrdom. After the fighting at Saint-Marcel, many paratroopers and FFI troops retreated to the farms. German repression was bloody.
On 12 July 1944, following a betrayal, Pierre Marienne was massacred in the village of Kérihuel with seven of his companions, eight FFI and three farmers by a German troop. Every year in July, a ceremony is held in Kérihuel in tribute to the victims of this massacre.
PLUMELEC AND CYCLING
A stronghold of Breton cycling thanks to the Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan, which has been organised under various names since 1974, Plumelec was also the scene of a major first when it awarded the first European elite road championship title in 2016.
That year, Anna van der Breggen just missed out on the double, winning the road race before being beaten in the time trial by her compatriot Ellen van Dijk, who went on to win four consecutive titles in the discipline. Niewiadoma also shone, as the Tour de 2024 winner won the U23 title by finishing second in the road race behind Van der Breggen.
In the men's race, it was Peter Sagan who took the first European title open to professionals, beating Julian Alaphilippe to the finish on the côte de Cadoudal. In the junior category, two French riders, Nicolas Malle and Émilien Jeannière, beat a young Slovenian rider by the name of Tadej Pogacar.
Plumelec has hosted the Tour on five occasions, twice for team time trials (1982 and 2015), but also for the prologue in 1985. The Morbihan town brought good luck to French and Breton cycling at the time, with Bernard Hinault, winner of the prologue, going on to claim the last victory by a Frenchman in the Grande Boucle. In 2009, Alejandro Valverde won the race at the top of the formidable Côte de Cadoudal.
Plumelec has also hosted the French road championships, once for the women in 2003, when Sonia Huguet won, and three times for the men, with victories for Bernard Thévenet (1973), Roland Berland (1979) and Didier Rous (2003).
Created in 1974 for men, the Grand Prix de Plumelec-Morbihan was opened up to women in 2011: the last woman to win was Silvia Persico in 2024.
SIGHTS
Sacré-Coeur church
Construction: 19th century
Style: neo-Gothic
History: Plumelec is an ancient parish with numerous religious buildings, including the famous Locmaria priory for women. The church, which dates back to the 15th century, was damaged during the French Revolution and had to be rebuilt in neo-Gothic style in 1889. The 40 m high bell tower was completed in 1902.
Special feature: it houses a polychrome wooden statue of Notre-Dame des Grâces, a listed building.
Church of Saint-Maurice
Built: 16th century
Characteristics: its located in the hamlet of Saint-aubin on the outskirts of Plumelec, it is remarkable for its Gothic choir dating from 1513. The sandstones of the church are among the most beautiful in Morbihan, due to the abundance and quality of the sculptures.
Listed as: Historic Monument in 1925
Château de Callac
Construction: 14th to 17th centuries
Style: Renaissance
Characteristics: In the 12th century, the Callac family built a manor house, which was burnt down during the War of the Breton Succession in 1350. It was extended in the second half of the 15th century and altered in the 17th century to give it its current appearance. During a succession in 1797, the château was divided between two sisters, whose descendants left the buildings abandoned in 1947. During the Revolution, the château was a meeting place for Chouans leaders. Georges Cadoudal, among others, met his lieutenants here. During the Second World War, Callac served as a rallying point for Free French paratroopers sent on missions.
Listed as: historic monument in 1971
Cadoudal Manor
Built: 1699
History and features: built in the 15th and 16th centuries, the main building and chapel were destroyed by fire in the 19th century. All that remains are the outbuildings built in 1699, a gate and a well. It is sometimes erroneously claimed that the Chouan general Georges Cadoudal was born in the manor house in the 18th century.
Listed as: Historic Monument in 1935
Espace la Peupleraie contemporary art museum
Description: This original open-air museum features a number of contemporary sculptures by French and foreign artists, including Robert Fachard, Momcilo Milovanovic and Klaus Shultze.
TO EAT
Plumelec sausage
Plumelec has the rare feature for a town of its size (less than 3,000 inhabitants) of having three butchers! And all three are renowned throughout the region for the quality of their products, which have won numerous regional and national awards. Hence the reputation of the "Plumelec sausage", which we don't know whether it's the dry sausage from Sébastien Thomas or the succulent sausages from the Le Pavec butcher's shop, which compete healthily and profitably on either side of the church, or the equally exquisite charcuterie offered by Martial Dubot, the town's third butcher.