Chapelle Saint-Jacques de Saint-Léon

Merléac

Built on the lands of the Rohan, this chapel was founded by Marguerite de Rohan and her husband Olivier de Clisson, one of the great Constables of France, who made it a showcase of their aristocratic prestige: the arms of the Rohan and the ermines of Brittany answer one another on the walls, while a painted decoration on panelling tells the story of Genesis with a naivety full of charm. Dedicated to Saint James the Greater, apostle and evangeliser of the Iberian peninsula and patron of pilgrims, the chapel stands on one of the Breton routes of the pilgrimage to Compostela, a function confirmed by its very dedication — chapels of Saint-Jacques traditionally marking the routes towards the apostle's tomb in Galicia. Mentioned as recently built by the Viscount of Rohan as early as 1317, it bears witness to the rise of Flamboyant Gothic in central Brittany at the very beginning of the 14th century, with its three-vessel nave and its great apsidal rose window, rare in a rural chapel of this size. Listed as a monument historique as early as 1908, it remains today somewhat off the main tourist circuits, which makes it all the more striking a discovery for those who take the time to stop there, between Breton seigneurial history and the memory of the great medieval pilgrimage to Spain.

Getting there : Free access to the placître (chapel green); interior open during local heritage events

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

Ambient sound