Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Comfort

Berhet

Founded by Jean du Perrier, sieur de Coat Cognon, and his wife Anne de Coëtmen, from 1523, the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Comfort at Berhet far outgrew the status of a private chapel to become, in time, the parish church of the commune. In its carved wall plates and cornices it preserves one of the most striking ensembles in Brittany in the genre of the "danse macabre" and secular scenes: an exterior beam carved with a hunting scene sits alongside grotesque figures and macabre motifs, the sculpted language typical of Breton Flamboyant Gothic, in which the sacred did not exclude black humour. Inside, a wooden altarpiece, statues and the tomb effigy of a knight of the founding family complete the decoration. The building has suffered losses over the centuries — a panel of the Annunciation and a votive wheel known as Sant e rod have disappeared — but its pardon, the Breton pilgrimage festival celebrated every last Sunday of September, continues to gather the parish. Listed as a historic monument as early as 1922, the chapel of Comfort is a fine illustration of how the seigneurial piety of the 16th century, expressed in sculpture of sometimes surprising liveliness, could turn into a lasting communal devotion down to the present day.

Getting there : Free access to the placître (chapel green); church open for services and for the pardon on the last Sunday of September.

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

Ambient sound