Dol

Dol-de-Bretagne stands above the marshes south of the bay of Mont Saint-Michel. Its cathedral of Saint Samson recalls the town's long importance as an episcopal centre, while old streets and stone houses grew around the church. The surrounding land links the Breton interior to the coast and its reclaimed marshes. In November 1793 the Vendéan army, moving through Brittany after crossing the Loire, fought Republican forces near Dol. The battle ended in a Vendéan victory, bringing the violence of the western civil war to the cathedral town.