Chapelle Notre-Dame du Yaudet

Ploulec'h

Le Yaudet occupies a steep promontory between the mouth of the Léguer and the valley of la Vierge. This hamlet of a few houses was, from the Iron Age to the Middle Ages, a fortified stronghold and a port, brought to light by thorough excavations at the end of the 20th century. The chapelle Notre-Dame stands within the old walls. Written sources mention it only from 1480; a deed of 1483 still calls it 'the church of the Vieille-Cité'. Sold to a private individual in 1799, restored to worship after the Concordat, bought back by the church council in 1829, it was demolished in 1858 and rebuilt until 1861 at the request of the de Kerninon family, then consecrated on 19 May 1861. The new building kept fragments of the old: 15th-century window tracery, two flamboyant doors, and a west block bearing a Trégor-type bell tower and a stair turret. On the high altar, a 17th-century oak retable shows a rare scene: the Virgin lying in a bed with the Child, beneath the dove of the Holy Spirit, near a crowned figure most often identified as God the Father, between Saint Anne and Saint Joachim. At the end of the 18th century, Ogée already noted that sailors from all over the region came on pilgrimage to the chapel in August; six ship models hang there as ex-votos. Legend has chosen to see in the reclining Virgin a memory of an ancient cult; the scholar Pierre Barbier read it instead as a naive depiction of the Nativity and the Trinity.

Wikipédia — Le Yaudet ↗

Getting there : In the hamlet of Le Yaudet, in the commune of Ploulec'h, west of Lannion; the enclosure and promontory are open access. The chapel has been reported closed to the public following damage from storm Ciarán (to be checked before any visit). Pardon on 15 August according to the Circuit des chapelles, or on the third Sunday of May according to the Inventaire (to be checked).

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

Ambient sound