Chapelle Notre-Dame de Bonne-Nouvelle

Trébeurden

Overlooking the bay of Trébeurden, and also known as Notre-Dame de Kerkonan, the 17th-century chapel of Bonne-Nouvelle has long been a landmark and a spiritual refuge for seafaring folk. Inside, a collection of maritime ex-votos — model ships hung from the ceiling, votive paintings, plaques of thanks — bears witness to a tradition still very much alive: sailors and their families came (and still come) to leave these offerings in thanks for a perilous crossing completed without shipwreck, or in prayer before an uncertain departure. This practice, common all along the Breton coast, takes here a particularly well-preserved and well-documented form. The pardon, the Breton pilgrimage festival celebrated every year around 15–16 August, perpetuates this maritime devotion in a setting restored in 1827 after the ravages of time. The openwork bell-gable, pierced between two piers and capped by a pointed dome topped with a cockerel, stands out against the Trégor sky, while at its feet a 17th-century granite cross, adorned with Christ and the Virgin, watches over the placître, the chapel green. Registered as a historic monument as early as 1952, the chapel of Bonne-Nouvelle thus offers visitors a distillation of religious and maritime history, between rural piety and the anxieties of the fishermen of the Trégor.

Getting there : Free access; open for the pardon of 15/16 August and during the summer season.

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

Ambient sound