Calvaire monumental de Pontchâteau

Pontchâteau

On the moor of La Madeleine, near Pontchâteau, the missionary Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort launched in 1709 the erection of a great calvary, with the help of thousands of volunteers of all conditions, nobles, townspeople and peasants. The blessing was planned for 14 September 1710, the feast of the Triumph of the Cross. At the last moment the bishop of Nantes forbade it: Montfort's enemies had persuaded the royal power that it was a fortification intended for an English invasion. An order from Versailles prescribed its demolition (Le Routard attributes it to Louis XIV); the work was razed. Montfort accepted the trial as a share of the Cross. The reconstruction waited nearly a century: Abbé Gouray, parish priest of Pontchâteau, relaunched the project and a new calvary was blessed in 1821. From 1888 to 1913 Father Jacques Barré had many monuments added to evoke the Holy Land in Brittany, including the Scala Sancta (1891), a replica of the Holy Stairs in Rome, and later the Temple of Jerusalem (1933). The park covers 14 hectares and offers a panorama over the Brière, the forest of Le Gâvre and the Loire.

Getting there: At the place called le Calvaire, in Pontchâteau. Le Routard gives opening hours and free access, to be checked on the official website. Coordinates: OpenStreetMap (Nominatim).

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

Ambient sound