Chapelle Saint-Fiacre

Radenac

In the countryside of Radenac, away from the village, the chapel of Saint-Fiacre surprises with an uncommon architecture: two naves and two choirs side by side, separated by powerful piers, as if two sanctuaries had merged into a single building. The main nave, Gothic in style, dates from the end of the 14th century; a second, later nave was added alongside it in the early 16th century. On the north facade, a carved bas-relief depicts Saint Fiacre holding a spade, the attribute of this 7th-century Irish saint who became the patron of gardeners and, in Brittany, was invoked against haemorrhoids and intestinal ailments. From the Middle Ages onwards, the place was a true centre of pilgrimage: indulgences were granted by papal authority in 1645, then renewed in 1864, a sign of a devotion lively enough to deserve this Roman recognition twice over. A fountain entirely of granite, built at the end of the 17th century by Bishop Sébastien du Guémadeuc in gratitude for a cure he attributed to the saint, completes the ensemble: its arcaded basin shelters a Renaissance-style niche in which stands a statue of Saint Fiacre. Local tradition has it that the building was founded by the Templars or the Hospitallers of Saint John of Jerusalem — an origin to be taken as legend rather than established fact, for want of direct evidence. Listed as a monument historique since 1931, the chapel also preserves, in the transept, the tombstone of a lord of Lantivy depicted in knightly dress.

Getting there : Free admission (municipal chapel, in the countryside away from the village).

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

Ambient sound