コロンの谷のおすすめランニングルート

This is one of the very few straight sections of the canal.

Here the canal meanders through the landscape.

A welcome breath of fresh air

At an altitude of 184 m, the Glomel trench is the highest point of the Nantes-Brest canal and the watershed between the Blavet and Aulne basins. The canal project and its passage through the center of Brittany dates back to Vauban, the decision and the route to Napoleon. The impressive trench allows the Aulne and Blavet watersheds to communicate via the canal. The Grande Trenche of the Canal from Nantes to Brest was dug in the 19th century by deserters from the army of Louis XVIII. The 4000 convicts of Glomel had to move as much earth and rock as was necessary for the construction of a great pyramid in Egypt. It took 9 years to create this trench, more than 3 kilometers long, 100 meters wide and 23 meters deep.

The dams for the Canal de Nantes à Brest create a lake from the waters of a little stream, the bike trail passes on the back of the levy

This passage is the highest point of the canal. It was necessary to dig three million cubic meters of earth and rock to make the canal pass: as much as to build the largest pyramid in Egypt! The work was carried out in the 19th century by deserters imprisoned and sentenced to forced labor. Many did not survive the unimaginable working and hygienic conditions. A book “Les Bagnards du canal de Nantes à Brest” traces the little-known history of the builders of the canal from Nantes to Brest.

To connect one valley with another, this was dug out by hand, the earth removed on men's backs and all with no machinery. This is the highest point of the canal. As you go along the path, look at how high the woodlands on either side are. It was cut through rock (schist). It is 3.5Km long. On one side was a camp, really a prison, where the 600 convicts, from the prison in Brest, were housed and who were forced to do this labour. Mostly they were deserters from the War with Spain. Dysentery, fever, matnutrition were all rife and on top of back breaking physical labour. After the 1830 Revolution, some prisoners broke out of the camp: some disappered into the surrounding countryside but 200 of them presented themselves to the Military authorities at Pontivy to have their new right to Liberty confirmed and recognised. The Camp was closed by 1832 and mostly destroyed by fire a few years later.

To cut the canal through this mountain, the highest point along the route between Nantes and Brest, was one of the most labor consuming Herculean tasks for the crew, involving thousands of forced and prisoner labor in addition to the hired workers.