Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Folgoat de Lansalaün

Paule

Formerly called "Terre de Salomon", the chapel of Lansalaün, at Paule, owes its other name — Notre-Dame de Folgoat — to the legend of Salaün ar Foll, the holy innocent of Le Folgoët in Finistère, whose Marian cult thus spread as far as central Brittany. Built in the early 16th century by the de Leslay family, lords of Keranguével, it preserves a remarkable window of 1528 depicting a Tree of Jesse and scenes from the life of the Virgin, as well as a polychrome wooden Virgin and Child of the 17th century. The site combines the chapel with a calvary, a cemetery planted with yews and a fountain of 1695 whose roof is adorned with a double heart — a symbol that sweethearts once came to invoke to obtain a blessing on their betrothal. Local devotion took a very precise physical form: pilgrims walked seven times round the building, barefoot, reciting their rosary, before drinking at the fountain. The bell in the tower, baptised in 1644, still rings for the annual pardon, the Breton pilgrimage festival that keeps this tradition alive. Listed as a historic monument since 1920, the chapel of Lansalaün is a fine illustration of how a Marian cult come from elsewhere in Brittany (here from Le Folgoët) could take root locally, mingling with popular rites of healing and of lovers' devotion peculiar to central Brittany.

Getting there : Free access to the placître (chapel green); chapel generally closed outside the pardon, visible from outside.

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

Ambient sound