[Illustration: _Rez-de-Chausée of Donjon--DINAN_]
Oliver Clisson, Gilles of Brittany, Viscount Rohan, Duchess Anne, Laurent Hamon, and many others whose names are famous in the history of Brittany have walked through these halls, of which only the hold to-day remains as a tourist "sight."
The Tower of Coëtquen, one of the ancient towers of the city wall, forms practically a part of the old castle, but the keep, or the Queen Anne's Tower, a hundred or more feet in height and of four stories,--the topmost reached by a spiral stairway of 148 steps,--is the most distinct feature still standing.
In the interior are a number of obscure cells which were, and indeed are still, terrible dungeons. The guard-room is on the second floor, with also a little room, which served as an oratory for the Duchess Anne. The third floor is occupied by the Constable's Hall, and the fourth by a Hall of Arms, a fine vaulted apartment.
To-day the castle is a prison, and the rank and file of visitors may not enter this fine mediæval monument, but, if one have a proper appreciation of the architectural delights of a mediæval fortress, and be diplomatic in his request, very likely his wish to enter will be gratified.
One of the principal industries of Dinan is the fabrication of sail-cloth. It is an admirably placed industry, with its market close at hand, and most of the Breton and Norman fishing-boats of these parts sport a full suit of Dinan manufacture.
In the environs of Dinan are innumerable charming excursions mostly neglected. One such must surely be included in one's itinerary,--a visit to the old Priory of Lehon, a dependency of the Abbey of Marmoutier.
It was founded in 850 by Nominoë, in honour of St. Magloire, whose relics were brought from the Isle of Jersey to Dinan. The ruins, as seen to-day, are most ample and beautiful, showing the best of thirteenth-century Gothic.
Besides this, Lehon has the picturesque ruins of a twelfth and thirteenth century castle perched high upon the summit of an eminence overlooking the headwaters of the Rance. The castle came to the hands of the Dukes of Brittany; Charles of Blois stayed there in 1356 after his return from England, and Raoul Coëtquen was made captain in 1402, since which time its history has been lost or hidden in the pages of the untranslated chroniclers.