La Couyère: Holiday apartments and holiday homes

An accessible introduction to astronomy in La Couyère is the Chemin solaire: the 450 m-long walking route is freely accessible and represents the solar system. Each step corresponds to 10 million kilometres in space.

Astronomy

The Centre d’astronomie de La Couyère welcomes the public and groups. On the 3,000 m² site, visitors can go from the planetarium’s simulated sky to observing the real sky with the instruments provided within just a few minutes. Since 2020, the Centre d’astronomie de La Couyère has been included on the list of France’s twelve exceptional astronomical observation sites; a 10 km protection zone around the observatory helps limit light pollution.

Visitors to the Centre d’astronomie de La Couyère can park their car in the centre of La Couyère and walk 800 m along the Chemin solaire. There is also a permanent astronomical exhibition behind La Couyère town hall. It comprises 23 stations presenting, among other things, a planet, a star or a galaxy; the distances represented increase tenfold from one station to the next.

Out and about

One of La Couyère’s two hiking trails is the Chemin de la Bouexière.

Architecture and local history

The Château du Plessix was built in the first quarter of the 18th century by Gilles Gardin, head of the Rennes mint, on the site of an older manor house. The remains of this older manor house are still preserved today.

At the Château du Plessix, the façades and roofs of the main château, including the side pavilions, the staircase with its balustrade, and the wood-panelled ground-floor salons, including the Second Empire room with its ceiling, were protected by registration on 31 January 1962. The park, the orangery, and the façades and roofs of the farm buildings and the kennel were protected on 19 November 1992.

The Notre-Dame church in the centre of La Couyère dates from the 17th to the 19th century. Its altarpiece probably dates from the 18th century and consists of two bays framed by four twisted columns, with an entablature and a triangular pediment.

Other places to discover include Monthault, Mellé, Lassy, Noyal-Sous-Bazouges, Baguer-Morvan, Mont-Dol, Tremblay and Sainte-Anne-sur-Vilaine.

To the higher-level travel overview: Ille-Et-Vilaine.