Due to its strategic location over the winding Nançon valley, a huge fortresswith 13 towers and enclosing five acres was built here in Fougeres around the year 1.000 to defend Brittany’s border against nearby Normandy.

An important trading activity developed in peace times at the crossroads with the three other provinces. The place was therefore attacked many times and eventually captured and destroyed in 1166 by English King Henry II Plantagenet.

The upper and lower parts of the town offer a patchwork of wood, schist, granite and slate.