Abbaye de Langonnet

Langonnet

Founded in 1136 by Duke Conan III and his mother Ermengarde of Anjou, the abbey of Langonnet owed its prosperity to the twelve monks from L'Aumône charged with draining marshes and peat bogs: by 1550 it already owned some 82 estates spread between Langonnet, Gourin and Le Faouët. Tried by the War of the Breton Succession and then by the Wars of Religion, it was rebuilt between 1650 and 1780, its church being dedicated only in 1789, on the eve of the Revolution. From 1807 to 1857 Napoleon I installed there the first public stud in Brittany, which numbered up to seventy stallions before its transfer to Hennebont. Made over in 1857 to the Spiritan missionaries, it today houses a museum of African art and serves as a rest home for retired missionaries, its 13th-century chapter house remaining the oldest witness to its Cistercian past.

Getting there : Site open to the public, museum of African art and missionary activity centre

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound