Dinan

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A pearl of the Middle Ages

Dinan

Dinan: Straßenschild

In Roman times Dinan was situated at the crossroads of two important roads: one went to Normandy, the other to Rennes. Dinan is still surrounded by one of the oldest and most extensive ramparts of Brittany. About 13,000 people live in this picturesque town in the Departement Côtes-d'Armor. Dinan is crammed full of half timbered buildings dating back to the 13th and 14th century.
There are two plausible explanations for the name Dinan: Divonantos could stem from the gallic words "divos" (holy) and "nantos" (valley). The second variant derives the name from the Celtoc words "din" or "dun" (dunus), meaning originally "a hill devoted to a god", later the word meant "(fortified) city on a hill". "an" could have been an abbreviation for the goddess Anna, mother of all Gallic gods and the patron of wet places.