Chapelle Saint-Mathurin

Quistinic

At Quistinic, the chapelle Saint-Mathurin stands so close to the parish church, ten metres to the south, that the two buildings echo one another. The building is composite: the bell-tower porch, topped with a masonry spire, was begun in 1784, while the chapel itself was entirely rebuilt in 1892, in the Gothic style. It is a single nave of granite and dressed stone roofed in slate, with a spiral staircase set within the structure. The devotion is older than the walls: InfoBretagne attributes the first chapel to the community of the Mathurins, established in the area in the 17th century. To the south-east of the village survives the granite fontaine de dévotion Saint-Mathurin, which bears the date 1678: a vault topped by a triangular pediment shelters three niches, holding Saint Peter, the Virgin and Saint Mathurin, and a low wall surrounds it. The chapel holds a gilded wooden reliquary bust; according to the parish archives, the saint's relics are said to have been received there with great solemnity in May 1846. At the end of the 19th century, the diocesan monograph described Saint-Mathurin as the seat of a great pilgrimage which drew, every second Sunday of May, a considerable crowd from the neighbouring parishes. According to legend, Mathurin had been charged by the Pope with evangelising Gaul, in the 4th or 5th century.

Inventaire général — Chapelle Saint-Mathurin (IA00009281) ↗

Getting there : In the village of Quistinic, just south of the parish church; the fountain is to the south-east of the village. The surroundings are open access; opening of the chapel to be checked. The pilgrimage on the second Sunday of May is attested by an old monograph (to be checked for today).

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

Ambient sound