Chapelle Notre-Dame de Kergrist (Plounez)

Paimpol

At Plounez, today part of Paimpol, the chapel of Notre-Dame de Kergrist presents a curious mix of salvage and rebuilding: its south doorway, in the Gothic style, was reused in a building consecrated by the Bishop of Saint-Brieuc in 1603, while the neighbouring calvary bears the date 1714. Sold as national property at the Revolution, the chapel returned to worship in 1807 and underwent a major restoration in 1868, which cost it its original south wing. Its position, high above the Trieux estuary, once earned it the role of a seamark — a navigational landmark for the sailors and fishermen making their way back to Paimpol — a practical function overlaid on its spiritual one, in a region where sea and religion have always been closely intertwined. The pardon of Kergrist, the Breton pilgrimage festival celebrated every year in May, continues to gather the people of Paimpol around this little sanctuary away from the town centre, whose fittings — 15th-century doors, 16th-century windows, furnishings mostly of the 18th century — tell by themselves of several eras of local religious life. Registered as a historic monument in 1969, it is worth the detour for anyone exploring the religious heritage of the Goëlo beyond the best-known sites.

Getting there : Free access to the placître (chapel green); chapel open for the annual pardon in May.

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

Ambient sound