Chapelle Notre-Dame de Kerhir

Plounévez-Quintin

Raised in 1596 at the heart of a placître (chapel green) planted with great trees, the chapel of Notre-Dame de Kerhir adopts a Latin-cross plan entirely of dressed granite, 35 metres long. Its massive tower, pierced by an openwork spire and topped by a balustraded platform, was added in 1729; it bears a dated inscription and a doorway adorned with a classical frieze. Inside, a polychrome and gilded vault of 165 m², painted in the 19th century by Raphaël Donguy, covers the carved 16th-century wall plates still in place. Kerhir is above all a living place of pardon, the Breton pilgrimage festival: on the third Sunday of September each year, the chapel jointly honours Our Lady, Saint Maurice and Saint Roch. The procession circles the building to the sound of hymns in Breton and French, among them the famous hymn of Saint Vaoris composed by Canon Ollivier, last superior of the seminary of Plouguernével — a text still sung today and now a marker of identity for the parishes of Haute-Cornouaille. A statue of Saint Maurice as a Roman soldier, recalling his refusal to persecute Christians under the emperor Maximian, keeps watch in the chancel. Registered as a monument historique (historic monument) since 1964 with its enclosure and its trees, the chapel may be visited freely, outside the day of the pardon when it comes fully back to life.

Getting there : free access, placître planted with great trees

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

Ambient sound