There is a great tower yet remaining—one of a twin pair—known as the Tower of Coigny, from a former governor, and within this tower is an ancient chapel.
There are three other celebrated towers, well-nigh as perfect as they were in the middle ages as far as their general outlines are concerned. The keep was razed in 1630, but the inner wall which surrounded it, with its three angular towers, is still to be seen. The Tower of Melusine encloses a museum in which are many relics and curiosities of a period contemporary with the castle itself. The ramparts of the town are more or less ruinous, but are still to be seen throughout its whole circumference. No part of this feature, however, dates from before the fifteenth century.
There are two admirable churches,—relics of the middle ages,—St. Sulpice and St. Leonard, also the ancient convent of the Urbanists, dating from 1689, now barracks.
There are many fine old houses in wood and stone scattered about the city, and an octagonal tower, in which is a great clock whose bell was cast in 1304 by Rolland Chaussière.
North of the town is the Forest of Fougères, composed principally of great beeches. Within the forest are the ruins of an ancient convent of the Franciscans, and near the little hamlet of Landeau are the famous “Caverns of Landeau,” constructed, it is said, in 1173 by Raoul II. of Fougères, to hide his riches and those of his vassals from the rapacity of the troops of Henry II. of England.
Dropping down again to the main route from Paris, which joins with that by the way of Mayenne and Fougères at Rennes, one enters Laval, the first Breton town of any magnitude on this route, as one comes westward.
It is a veritable local metropolis, and, like Mayenne, farther up the river, it spreads itself amply on both sides of the stream which flows southward to join the Loire at Angers, just below the country.
The first Château of Laval was built by the Count Guidon or Guy to protect the Bretons from the invasion of Charlemagne or his successors. The second Guy received a charter from the Bishop of Mans, dated in the fifth year of the reign of King Robert (1002), and this designates him as the real founder of the Château of Laval. The town became the seat of a barony, afterward a county, of which the possessors were ever famous for their personal valour and their high lineage. Among them were the Montmorencys, the Montforts, and the Colignys.
When, in the fifteenth century, the English had become virtual masters of Maine, Laval alone resisted their efforts, thanks to the energy of a certain Anne of Laval.
The historical records of the town and the château are ample and eventful, even down to as late a day as 1871, when, after the battle of Mans, General Chanzy retreated upon Laval.