DINAN

town, northwestern France, in Ctes-d'Armor dpartement, Bretagne rgion, dominating the upper Rance Estuary. It stands on a height above the left bank of the river 14 miles (22 km) south of the coast at Dinard. It has preserved many medieval timbered houses, as well as its fine 18th-century granite buildings, its Gothic bridge, and its 15th-century belfry, the Tour de l'Horloge. The walls of the town, dating from the 11th century, survived two 14th-century attacks by the English. An imposing granite castle, known as the Chteau de la Duchesse Anne, was built by the dukes of Brittany in the 14th and 15th centuries. Dinan is a market town and a tourist centre; textiles are also manufactured. Pop. (1982) 12,104.