Roc'h Trevezel et le santig kozh

Plounéour-Ménez

The Roc'h Trevezel is a ridge of quartzite teeth standing above the moorland, remains of a layer of sands and muds deposited 410 million years ago and tilted upright by the Hercynian folds. In clear weather, one sees to the north the valley as far as the coast, and to the south the basin of the Yeun Elez, a marsh partly drowned beneath the lake of Saint-Michel, where tradition places the Youdig, one of the gates of hell. The commune of Plounéour-Ménez has put the legend of the roc'h online: the mountain would open every eleven hundred years, and one enters it at the eleven strokes of the clock with a child of eleven; inside rests ar santig kozh, the little old saint, a wooden statuette from which one obtains whatever one wants by rubbing the top of its head. A boy, distracted by apples, missed the twelve strokes of noon and remained a prisoner for eleven hundred years; freed, he received wealth from the saint and married a daughter of the king of France; but when the princess exchanged the old statue for a new one, the saint refused to help her any further and went back beneath the mountain. No collector and no date are given for this tale; it does not appear in volume I of Sébillot, and it must be taken for what it is, a tale of the Monts d'Arrée.

Wikipédia — Roc'h Trevezel ↗

Getting there : Car park beside the D 785, at the col, at the foot of the crest; the summit is gained in a few minutes by a steep path between the rocks, slippery in wet weather and very exposed to the wind. A 3.6 km loop, 90 m of ascent, takes an hour and a quarter from the car park; the Circuit des Roc'h (15 km, four hours) starts from the church of Plounéour-Ménez. Site freely accessible all year round; the moorland is protected, keep to the paths.

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

Ambient sound