What is a motte castle?

A motte is an artificial or modified defensive mound, typically crowned with a wooden or stone structure and surrounded by ditches. It forms the central element of a medieval fortification often accompanied by a bailey.

What is the link between the Iron Age and Morizur mound?

The ditch cutting off the outcrop at its base may predate the Middle Ages, potentially dating to the Iron Age, suggesting settlement and defence of the site across multiple periods.

Is the motte accessible for visits?

The site has been protected as a historical monument since 1996. Visiting conditions are not specified: contact the town hall of Plounéventer for details on access.

Morizur Motte

Plounéventer

Access

No visits on recordNo opening hours or ticketing found

Where: Plounéventer

To make a day of it

Open within 20 km

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Château de La Roche-Maurice (Roche-Maurice Castle)Free11 km

Sleep nearby

Motte castrale de Morizur stands in Plounéventer (Finistère), in the Bretagne region of France. The building is registered as a historic monument (dating recorded in the Mérimée database: Milieu du Middle Ages). The building is privately owned and no visits are on record.

The motte castle of Morizur sits on a rocky outcrop overlooking the confluence of two valleys in Finistère. This medieval fortification, protected as a historical monument, combines a defensive ditch with an impressive mound ten metres high topped by a stone structure, flanked by two baileys. The site demonstrates the characteristic defensive organisation of medieval Brittany.

What to know

The site consists of a very substantial central mound, dry ditches and two successive enclosures that structure the complex.
The rocky outcrop features a base ditch that may date to the Iron Age, revealing defensive occupation predating the Middle Ages.
The stone construction crowning the mound and the scale of the earthworks mark a fortification of local importance during the central Middle Ages.
Access and visiting conditions are not documented: contact the town hall of Plounéventer for information.

Where this château is

Plounéventer · Finistère · Bretagne

Map of the area around Motte castrale de Morizur

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This châteauChâteaux within 40 km

Address

Lescoat Morizur, 29260 Saint-Méen

Directions open from wherever you are, by car or public transport.

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Heritage status: Registered historic monument (inscrit); Mérimée record PA29000009
Period of construction: Milieu du Middle Ages

Frequently asked

What is a motte castle?: A motte is an artificial or modified defensive mound, typically crowned with a wooden or stone structure and surrounded by ditches. It forms the central element of a medieval fortification often accompanied by a bailey.
What is the link between the Iron Age and Morizur mound?: The ditch cutting off the outcrop at its base may predate the Middle Ages, potentially dating to the Iron Age, suggesting settlement and defence of the site across multiple periods.
Is the motte accessible for visits?: The site has been protected as a historical monument since 1996. Visiting conditions are not specified: contact the town hall of Plounéventer for details on access.