Oratoire de Saint-Guirec et rochers de Ploumanac'h

Perros-Guirec (Ploumanac'h)

On the plage de Saint-Guirec, at Ploumanac'h, a tiny oratory is planted on a block of pink granite in the middle of the bay. According to oral tradition, Guirec was a Welsh monk who came to found a monastery in Brittany around the 6th century; he is said to have landed on this beach in a stone trough drawn by angels. The oratory is said to have been built in the 12th century, and a wooden statue of the 14th century, whose nose has disappeared, long watched over it; it was replaced in 1904 by a stone statue. It is to this that the best-known rite of the place is addressed. A girl who wants to marry sticks a pin in the saint's nose. If the pin holds, she will have a husband within the year. Sailors' wives also pray there for the return of the boats. Each year a pardon is celebrated on the eve of Ascension. All around, the pink granite coast offers a chaos of blocks more than 300 million years old, covering more than 25 hectares between the beaches of Trestraou and Saint-Guirec. Local people have given them names: the ‘Napoleon's hat’, the ‘lovers' sentry box’, the ‘mushroom’.

Getting there: Free, as far as is known, on the plage de Saint-Guirec at Ploumanac'h (Perros-Guirec), on the GR 34. The oratory stands on a rock in the bay: check the tides before approaching it. Coordinates: ‘Oratoire Saint-Guirec’ sign, rue de l'Oratoire (OpenStreetMap), therefore approximate for the rock itself.

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

Ambient sound