Chapelle Notre-Dame de Sélédin

Plussulien

Isolated in the countryside of Plussulien, the chapel of Sélédin bears the scars of an eventful history. Its origins go back to the Middle Ages: destroyed during the War of the Breton Succession (1341-1364), it earned the parish a bull of indulgences granted by the pope on 22 April 1392 to finance its rebuilding — an extremely rare act that testifies to the antiquity and importance of the Marian cult in this place, then called the "chapel of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Seucledin". Rebuilt in 1640, it burned on 11 March 1783 and was rebuilt at once the same year, before being ceded to the parish vestry in 1807. The present building, on a Latin-cross plan with a sturdy bell-gable, has kept a 15th-century doorway and windows ranging from the 14th to the 16th century, traces of successive rebuildings on the same sacred site. Even today, the pardon of Notre-Dame de Sélédin, the Breton pilgrimage festival, gathers more than a hundred and fifty faithful every fourth Sunday of August: mass, procession with cross, banner and statue, hymns in Breton and, at nightfall, the traditional "tantad", the great bonfire that closes the festival. Few Breton chapels can claim such well-documented devotional continuity, from a 14th-century papal bull to present-day pardons.

Getting there : Free access; great Marian pardon on the fourth Sunday of August

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

Ambient sound