Chapelle Saint-Gildas

Pluméliau-Bieuzy

On the bank of the Blavet, the chapelle Saint-Gildas backs onto an overhanging quartz rock, so that it appears half swallowed by the cliff. It consists of two aligned sections. The older, to the east, dates from the 15th century: a pointed diaphragm arch there separates the nave from the chancel and probably once carried a rood screen, now gone. The second, to the west, was added in 1837, after the rebuilding of the south wall in 1810. Against the north wall, an attached fountain is nothing more than a simple hole in the ground; tradition credits it with the power to cure infertility. The chapel also preserves a sounding stone, a block that gives off an almost metallic sound when struck. Tradition holds that Saint Gildas and his disciple Saint Bieuzy withdrew into this cave in the 6th century, in 538 according to the accounts, and that Gildas struck this stone to call the faithful to worship. History, for its part, begins later: the 15th-century oratory served as the chapel of the priory of la Roche-sur-Blavet, dependent on the abbey of Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys, whose monks held the cave, the fountain and the stone to be relics of their founder. In the neighbouring village of Bieuzy, another sounding stone, attributed to Saint Bieuzy, and the saint's fountain, reputed to guard against rabies in people and animals, carry on the same cult. The chapel is today protected under a biotope order in favour of the lesser horseshoe bat.

Wikipédia — Chapelle Saint-Gildas de Bieuzy ↗

Getting there : On the bank of the Blavet, east of the place called le Prioldy, in the territory of the former commune of Bieuzy. It is reached along the towpath (to be checked); the surroundings are freely accessible (to be checked) and the opening times of the chapel are not documented (to be checked). The chapel shelters bats protected under a biotope order: discretion is required inside.

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

Ambient sound