Les Ateliers des Capucins Brest

"If you want to feel the soul of Brest, its past, present and future, I strongly recommend that you spend a few hours inside Les Atelier des Capucins (the Capucins workshops), the largest covered public square in Europe with 35 000 m2. The history of the place is rich and shows you how much Brest has evolved as a city: - The place was a covent with a community of Capuchin priests in the 17th century - It was turned into a military shipyard in the 19th century and became a strategic place for building and repairing French navy ships. Located above the Brest Arsenal, 1800 employees were working there in 1878. - It got severely destroyed during the Second World War and rebuilt afterwards. 200 machines were then acquired (6 of them are still exposed) - It has provided key pieces for important ships of the French navy, including our current aircraft and helicopter carriers - It stopped its industrial activities in 2004 before the city and the state worked on redeveloping and rehabilitating the space in order to revive the whole district. Since 2016, it is now a vibrant cultural, social and economical hub. A place where locals like to spend their free time, where all categories of the society meet. I am pretty sure I recognised the mayor last time I went. Every time I go back to Brest, Les Capucins is always a place where I love to go. There is always something happening: temporary exhibitions, dancers stomping the yard, new books at the ‘Curiosités de Dialogue’ bookstore or new items to shop from one of the many stores. Inside the square, you can find (among other things), a cinema, a theatre, a library, a museum, a climbing gym, a restaurant with a beautiful terrasse, a brewery, a virtual reality adventure park and many local designers. You get to walk around the few machines that remain and contemplate the majestuous "Emperor’s Canoe" exposed since 2018. Its great location overlooking the Arsenal invites you to walk around the Ateliers, breath some sea air, look at the cable car going back and forth and just relax. "

"The largest indoor/covered public space in Europe! Home to all kinds of things, from a coffee shop, a beer shop, a leather store (where you can take leather bag making classes), a virtual reality experience center, a cinema, a rock climbing gym, a bookshop, and more. Tons of open spaces where children wheel around on skates or scooters, or where teens are practicing dance routines, or where families are picnicking at the inside tables."