Fort-la-Latte

Entrance of the first gatehouse

The Barbican is protected by a portcullis and stout wooden door. The first gatehouse of the barbican is provided with a drawbridge which has been restored to working order. At the time of its construction in the fourteenth century, it was also protected by a portcullis and a double-leaf door. Completely destroyed by cannon shot during the second capture of the castle, it was subsequently rebuilt.

In front of this first gatehouse a battering ram and a pillory can be found. Within the barbican is a small medieval garden, a "Bricole" (a kind of catapult) and one gains a panoramic view of the bay of St Malo.

The courtyard contains several installations, such as the water cistern, the chapel (built during Louis XIV's reign), the governor's house and the keep. Completely backfilled in the 17th century in order that cannons may be used, the original medieval soil is up to eight metres below the modern-day surface. Archaeological excavations have revealed a square tower which probably served as a watchtower which has been entirely buried underground. A second building protects the courtyard under which a dungeon can be found. This building is also protected by a drawbridge and portcullis. Only the two medieval towers remain as the rest (in particular the upper floor) were destroyed by cannon in the sixteenth century. The drawbridges of the two gatehouses are not on the same axis in order to hinder the manoeuvering of battering rams.

• 
  the oven to blush the balls
• 
  a cannon
• 
  a cannon
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  Exterior view
• 
  Interior courtyard of Barbican
• 
  The cistern
• 
  Interior of the chapel.
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  Path of the rolling.
• 
  The cistern.
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  Drawbridge blocking system
• 
  Interior of the stately home

The water cistern, with a capacity of 20,000 L, was expected to have been sufficient to serve the entire garrison (about forty men) although given the maximum retention volume seems limited. A rainwater recovery system was put in place. On the same level of the tank, a dummy drawbridge was intended to deceive any maritime attackers who would be deceived into sailing onwards an area of strong currents where their ship would then be at risk of smashing against the rocks. This dummy drawbridge was, however, ineffective.

Eight cannons were installed during the reign of Louis XIV, the largest being eight metres long. Today, only "medium" copies are present on the site, but which could still shoot a ball up to a kilometre. Ballistic adjustments were made by use of the runway - a granite circle on which the cannon were placed and guided the wheels of the gun as it was manoeuvered into position.

According to military records, one shot could be fired every three minutes.

The Chateau of the Roche Goyon also has a ball oven for heating cannonballs so that they were 'red-hot' prior to firing. The oven and method were rarely used however, for several reasons:

• the oven consumed a lot of wood;
• for this to be effective, it had to heat for eight hours, which gave the enemies plenty of time to flee;
• loading the cannon proved much more dangerous as the hot ball could cause to pre-ignite the black powder before the cannon could be properly fired.

The use of ball ovens resulted in the coining of the expression "Tirer à boulets rouges" ("To shoot with red balls") meaning a particularly vehement attack on, or criticism of, an opponent.

The keep is equipped with machicolations and several types of loopholes: the crossbowmen in the shape of a cross for crossbow shooting and the very long single slit archeries for archery. Smaller Holes located on each side of the loopholes for shooting arquebus and larger holes through which bombard could be fired. A line of bombardment is visible at the level of these loopholes and corresponds to the capture of the castle in the sixteenth century which was accompanied by a cannonade from the keep.

Four sculptures representing the tetramorph according to Ezekiel are found at the level of the yellow granite circle which surrounds the keep. Here, facing the castle, can be found the angel of Saint Matthew, then the lion of Saint Mark, the eagle of Saint John (severely eroded) and finally the bull of Saint Luke to the right of the entrance to the keep .

The entrance to the keep reveals the presence of a third drawbridge, now replaced by a staircase. The emblem of the Goyon-Matignon family, a siren, crowns the passage. The entrance to the keep was protected by a portcullis and a defensive entrapment perhaps best described as a kind of 'mousetrap'. In the keep there is an exhibition on the restoration works of the castle and the roof is supported by a cross vault of ogives dating from 1340.

• 
  The keep.
• 
  Enter of the keep.
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  The roof of the keep.
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  interior arched ogive roof
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  The angel of st Mathieu
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  The lion of st Marc.
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  The eagle of st Jean.
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  the beef of st Luc.
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  the first floor
• 
  reconstituted powder scene

• La Châtelaine aux deux visages, by Simone Roger-Vercel, 1957
• Le Jeu du Roi, by Jean Raspail, 1976
• Le Fantôme de Fort La Latte, comics strip from "Aventures de Vick et Vicky" by Bruno Bertin by Éditions P'tit Louis, 2007
• Le Fort La Latte, by Isabelle Joüon Des Longrais by éditions Ouest-France, juin 2009
• Le Chemin de Malefosse, comics strip by Daniel Bardet and Brice Goepfert, by éditions Glénat, 2015
• Christophe Amiot, Le fort La Latte, anciennement Roche Goyon, in French Archaeological congress. 173rd session. Monuments of Côtes-d'Armor. « Le Beau Moyen Âge ». 2015, French Archaeological Society, 2017, p. 97-110, (ISBN 978-2-901837-70-1)
• Sekijô No Shi, Le Château de la Roche Goyon dit Fort la Latte, imprimerie de la Manutention, 1973, (ISBN 2-9501512-0-5)
• Le secret de Fort La Latte, by Valérie Thiébaut published by Héros d'Armor, 1er décembre 2017.

This castle served as a setting for several scenes from the following films, television films, television series and clips :

• The perfume of the lady in black, 1931
• The Three Musketeers, 1948
• The Vikings (Vikings) 1958, with Kirk Douglas, whose final fight took place on the keep.
• Metzengerstein one of the sketches from the film Extraordinary Stories, 1967.
• Lancelot du Lac, 1970.
• The Dance of Death, 1983.
• Chouans!, French film 1987.
• The King's Game, 1988.
• Ridiculous, 1996.
• The heart and the Sword (Il cuore e la spada, Heart and Sword) 1998.
• La Tribu de Dana, clip from the French band Manau, 1998.
• TV advertising for the search engine "Lycos" 2000
• Une vieille maîtresse, French film 2007.
• L'Épervier, the series for France Télévision with Aurélien Wiik, Martin Lamotte 2011.
• Avril and the extraordinary world, animated film, 2015.
• Ma Reine, clip from the French band Manau, 2018.
• Tasnif-e magali Kurdi, clip from the French medieval band Soñj, 2018.