Chapelle Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Burthulet

Saint-Servais

Burthulet is a chapel in the shape of a Latin cross dating from the early 16th century, whose lower nave and bell tower were rebuilt in the 17th century; the south porch bears the inscription 'JAQUE LE LAY 1627'. The nave is flanked by two-bay aisles that reach only as far as the porch. Inside, a balustrade is made from a remnant of a rood screen depicting the apostles; there is a 16th-century sacrarium, the panels of a retable (the Baptism of Christ, the Arrest of Christ, the Assumption, the Coronation of the Virgin), and wall-plates carved with secular, even bawdy, scenes. According to R. Couffon, the chapel was dedicated in 1518. It was the church of a trève of the parish of Duault, placed under the patronage of Saint John the Baptist and dependent on the Hospitaller commandery of La Feuillée; François Le Moguerou, born in the hamlet, served it from 1723 until his death in 1783. On a wall-plate of the apse, on the north-east side, an elongated face with large ears, squinting eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth is said to be the devil; and the large granite boulders surrounding the chapel are called, locally, the 'boules du diable'. A common confusion should be cleared up: the great gathering on 13 May described by Ogée in 1778, with its ten thousand pilgrims coming chiefly from the diocese of Vannes, was held at the chapelle Saint-Servais, now the parish church of the village, and not at Burthulet. The chapel, its placître, its boundary wall and its calvary have been listed as historic monuments since 1968.

Mérimée PA00089657 — Chapelle de Burthulet ↗

Getting there : In the hamlet of Burthulet, commune of Saint-Servais, south-east of Callac (to be checked for the route). The placître and surroundings are open access; the opening of the chapel is not documented (to be checked).

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

Ambient sound