Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Vérité

Caudan

At Nelhouët, on the heights of Caudan, the chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Vérité owes its unusual name to a former "wheel of justice" which, it is said, allowed the faithful to submit themselves to divine judgement — a practice whose memory crystallised in the name of the place, according to local tradition. Built at the end of the 16th century in a late Flamboyant style tinged with Renaissance influences, it preserves a south door finely carved with crockets and an astonishing gargoyle in the form of an angel. Inside, a rood screen of 1612 once carried painted panels depicting the Apostles and the Passion of Christ; these panels disappeared in the 20th century, a loss local historians still lament. The place remains alive: every second Sunday of July, a pardon still gathers the faithful and the curious around a Breton hymn of thirty-eight verses recounting the miracles attributed to the Virgin of Truth. A few steps away, the devotional fountain of Kerblaye, dated 1765 and recently restored, was reputed to cure the fevers of the children who were brought to be bathed there. A stone bench, cut into the outside wall itself, recalls that generations of pilgrims came to collect themselves here before entering. Registered as a Monument historique in 1934, the chapel today belongs to a network of rural chapels in the Lorient area maintained by local associations.

Getting there : Free access to the surroundings and the fountain; the chapel opens notably for the annual pardon (second Sunday of July) and during the summer exhibitions of the local chapels trail.

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

Ambient sound