Solidor Tower (in French ''tour Solidor'') is a strengthened

keep A keep is a type of fortified tower built within castles during the Middle Ages by European nobility. Scholars have debated the scope of the word ''keep'', but usually consider it to refer to large towers in castles that were fortified residen ...

with three linked towers, located in the estuary of the river Rance in

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

. It was built between 1369 and 1382 by John IV, Duke of Brittany (i.e. Jean V in English) to control access to the Rance at a time when the city of

Saint-Malo Saint-Malo (, , ; Gallo language, Gallo: ; ) is a historic French port in Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany (administrative region), Brittany. The Fortification, walled city on the English Channel coast had a long history of piracy, earning much wealth ...

did not recognize his authority. Over the centuries the tower lost its military interest and became a jail. More recently it was a museum celebrating Breton sailors exploring

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

, but it was permanently closed in 2022. The Solidor Tower is located in the former town of Saint-Servan, which merged with Saint-Malo and Paramé in 1967. It is featured in the 1957 Wendy Toye film '' True as a Turtle'' starring John Gregson, Cecil Parker, June Thorburn and Keith Michell.''True as a Turtle'' at IMDB
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References

External links

Museum of the History of the Town and the Pays Malouin
{{coord, 48, 38, 2, N, 2, 1, 34, W, region:FR_type:landmark_source:frwiki, display=title Castles in Brittany Buildings and structures in Ille-et-Vilaine Saint-Malo Museums in Ille-et-Vilaine Local museums in France Monuments historiques of Ille-et-Vilaine Military history of Ille-et-Vilaine