Centre des monuments nationaux

Come and discover the house where Ernest Renan spent his childhood in Tréguier, a small historic Breton town a few kilometres from Guingamp in the Côtes-d'Armor.

Visiting Ernest Renan's house in Tréguier 

• A house museum. In particular, it is possible to visit what used to be Renan's bedroom when he was a schoolboy, and a reconstruction of his study in the Collège de France. A room explains the story of the controversial erection of a statue of the author in 1903 in nearby Place du Martray.

Understanding Ernest Renan and his house in Tréguier 

• A ‘secular saint' of the 3rd Republic. Born into an impoverished family, Ernest Renan (1823-1892) was a brilliant scholar destined for the priesthood. However, he left the seminary in 1845. His works subjected the Gospels to scientific critical examination, and enraged the clergy and right-wing Royalists and Catholics. Renan was a respected scholar throughout Europe and received a multitude of honours: he was a member of the Académie des inscriptions et belles lettres, a Professor at the Collège de France, a member of the Académie Française and an officer of the Légion d'honneur. 

• A local dignitary's townhouse. The house was built at the end of the 16th century and the architecture is typical of the Trégor area. It was bought in 1780 by Renan's grandparents. Renan left it for good at the age of 15. It became a museum in 1947. In 1992, on the occasion of the centenary of his death, sculpted wood decoration was added to the street facade.