Paris1972-Versailles2003

Nothing better than to start up about 2 hrs north of me to the neighboring dept 22 of the Côtes d’Armor and visit a bit more Trégastel. We have been on the area before but there is so much to see alone in my lovely Bretagne that we need to come back again and again. I am updating the post with fresh text and links, hope you enjoy it as I, Let me tell you a bit about the religious monuments of Trégastel !

Trégastel is located between Perros-Guirec (see post) and Pleumeur-Bodou (see post) on the Côte de Granit Rose or pink granite coast, 70 km from Saint-Brieuc (see post), and 11 km from Lannion (see post). I have come here only by car! By road, the town is served by the departmental road D11 coming from Lannion and by the departmental road D788 coming from Pleumeur-Bodou or Perros-Guirec.

The historic and architectural heritage of Trégastrel is exceptionally rich, due to the presence of megalithic monuments in covered alleys, menhirs, Gallic stele and religious buildings such as chapels, churches and ossuaries built between the 12C and the 17C, without forgetting tide mills, calvaries and other fountains and washhouses.

Sainte Anne Church has a flat chevet building built between the 12C and the 19C. It is a church where all the centuries, from this period, are represented. The semi-circular 17C ossuary presents an elegant gallery with balusters and a roof surmounted by a turret with a granite dome. The ossuary collected the bones from the graves of the cemetery because the latter is not extensible; it was necessary to make room for the new deceased approximately every five years. This ossuary constitutes the originality of the church of Trégastel. The furniture consists, among other things, of a Romanesque font with grotesque figures, the pulpit to preach of the 17C, a beam of glory, of an old wheat measure in stone of the 14C In addition, some old statues representing Notre-Dame de Délivrance, Saint Anne, Saint Marguerite, Saint Nicolas and Saint Yves between the Rich and the Poor. After being under the patronage of Saint Laurent, the Church of Trégastel is currently placed rather under the patronage of Saint Anne, whose feast is in July, date on which forgiveness is celebrated. The west gable, resulting from a first reshuffle, presents a portal from the end of the 14C and the beginning of the 15C. The south facade has a square and vaulted porch, from the end of the 16C. In the 19C, a restoration, in granite from Île-Grande, made the old bell tower with three openings disappear, to replace it with an arch supporting two bells. Collaterals forming six spans separated by arches broken flank the capped nave. On the window-master whose replacement dates from the 17C, the stained glass windows are more recent and date from 1869. Saint Brieuc and Saint Tugdual, the patrons of the bishopric, are represented in the center of the window.

The site where the Sainte-Anne-des-Rochers Chapel is located has long been dedicated to spiritual life. After the end of the Roman occupation, a group of monks from across the Channel installed a hermitage with a small wooden chapel. This place then took the name of Langastel. The chapel was founded by Jean de Lannion, lord of Aubays. Around 1630, he was lieutenant of the constabulary of Bretagne, governor of Lannion, captain of the ban and the rear ban of the bishopric of Tréguier, responsible for monitoring the coasts. He also has great devotion to Sainte Anne, patron Saint of Bretagne, which explains the dedication of this chapel. Before 1928 the chapel was a simple rectangle sixteen by four meters. It was not until 1928, with the advent of sea bathing fashion, that the chapel was enlarged with the creation of a transept with the choir in the north wing. On one of the pillars of the entrance to the chapel, is the sculpted torso of a mutilated Christ, in Kersanton granite, from the Calvary of the bourg, built in 1872. This is all that remains of the great cross struck by lightning in 1912,

The Calvaire du Bourg or calvary of the town, built in 1872 on the initiative of Abbé Bouget, who had it built on the hill of Krec’h Lest, not far from the town’s church. This dry stone monument consists of a chapel-crypt, dedicated to Notre-Dame-de-Pitié, surrounded by a narrow spiral path which goes up to an upper platform on which the base of the cross. In the first niche is the granite statue of a kneeling peasant holding a spade; in a second, to the south, a statue of the Sacred Heart, made of wood. The following niches house the statues of Saint Laurent, Saint Joseph, Saint Yves and finally Saint François Xavier . You see writings in Breton marking the route.

The city of Trégastel on its heritage: https://www.tregastel.fr/Patrimoine

The Granite Coast of Brittany tourist office on Trégastel: https://www.bretagne-cotedegranitrose.com/villes-de-la-cote-de-granit-rose/tregastel/

There you go folks, so much to do and see here, this on the religious monuments of Trégastel, see other posts. For now enjoy part of the Granite Coast of Brittany in the Côtes d’Armor dept 22,  and Trégastel. We will be back !

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

Nothing better than to start up about 2 hrs north of me to the neighboring dept 22 of the Côtes d’Armor and visit a bit more Trégastel. We have been on the area before but there is so much to see alone in my lovely Bretagne that we need to come back again and again. I am updating the post with fresh text and links, hope you enjoy it as I, Let me tell you a bit about Trégastel !

Trégastel is seaside resort, the population is multiplied by five in Summer season! One in two dwellings is a second home. Trégastel is located between Perros-Guirec (see post) and Pleumeur-Bodou (see post) on the Côte de Granit Rose or pink granite coast, 70 km from Saint-Brieuc (see post), and 11 km from Lannion (see post). I have come here only by car along the D788 and d11, However, there is the Lannion Côte de Granit Airport with daily connection from Paris Orly by Hop! By TGV train line Paris – Lannion or Plouaret with connection at Lannion connection. Lannion SNCF station then bus line E Tibus Stop Ste Anne. Ferry terminal in Roscoff coming from Cork – Plymouth and Bilbao;located 1.5 hours from Trégastel by bus Line E A “TILT” network (Transports Intercommunaux Lannion-Trégor) managed by the LTC (Lannion Trégor Communauté) Agglomeration serves the town of Trégastel via line E from Lannion. Check for updates as always come by car here.

The 17 km of very rocky coasts alternating with fine sand beaches, creeks and spread of rocks, are bordered by small islands which are discovered at low tide while the hinterland shelters wooded valleys, and in particular the Traouiero, at the crossroads of dirt roads. Trégastel has always attracted renowned writers and painters, leave it to the writer  Charles Le Goffic  to finish convincing you if need be when he said: “Sapphire and coral, blue sea, pink rocks, it’s Trégastel on sunny days”.

A bit of history I like

Trégastel acquired parish status in the 12C or 13C. The first town was created on February 24, 1790 during the French revolution. The first mention started really by 1225 when land was acquired here by the monks of Bégard Abbey. In the 12C it was built the city center church or Bourg church. In 1375: Charles V grants Bryant de Lannion permission to build a tide mill as a reward for his help during the War of Succession of Bretagne. On the site of this one another was built in 1764, which still exists, on the Trégastel / Ploumanac’h border. It ended its   activity in 1932 but open for visits. In 1861, there is written information that in Trégastel, they spoked French and Breton almost indifferently, but Breton dominated, especially among women. In 1869: the statue of the Bon-Sauveur is erected at the request of Abbé Bouget at the top of a rocky mass of Coz-Pors. It was blessed in 1869. It would later take wrongly, the name of statue of the Eternal Father, its current name. In 1872 it was built the Calvaire or calvary of the city center or Bourg, commissioned by Abbé Bouget. In 1895 it was built the Château de Costaérès by Bruno Abakanowicz dit Abdank, a Polish engineer. In 1967 it was built the Aquarium Marin de Trégastel located under a pile of several thousand tons of pink granite, near Place du Coz-Pors, at the start of the Ïle Renote island road, and under the statue of the Eternal Father.

The market is organized every Monday morning in the parking Sainte-Anne. In winter, around fifty traders offer you their merchandise. In summer more than a hundred traders exhibit, making up the largest market in the area. In July and August the market is exclusively pedestrian.  Trégastel has two adjoining ports, “Port Ouest”   with 150 places partially in deep water and “Port Est” with 50 places, easily accessible at all tides, by marked channel. Coz Pors: from May to September with 200 moorings on buoys available. In addition, there are grouped anchorages in Kerlavos Bay and Ste-Anne Bay. Each boat owner is responsible for providing their own moorings. Check with harbormaster or Capitainerie.

Trégastel has 13 sandy beaches with varied orientations, accessible at any time. The beach of Grève Blanche and the beach of Coz-Pors are supervised in July and August by lifeguards. Dogs are allowed on all Trégastel beaches from September 15 to June 15, and prohibited from June 15 to September 15. There are also, 4 picnic areas in the town at plage Quo Vadis beach; Lac des cygnes lake ; plage Toul Bihan beach and Ïle Rénote. Motorhome stopover Parking du Tennis-Club, Rue Poul-Palud. The fav ¨Plages TV site on the beaches of Trégastel : https://en.plages.tv/seaside-resorts/tregastel-22733

The moulin à marée du Grand Traouïero or grand Traouïero tide mill was done in 1375, when King Charles V granted Lord Bryan of Lannion the right to have a tide mill built on the arm of the sea that comes from Trov-Meur between the place that says Toul Ar Carhent and Ploumanac’h. The current building dates from 1764 engraved above the door. Its last miller was Toussaint Le Brozec who ceased his activity in 1932. However, the tide mill is open for visits.

In a unique site,the Aquarium marin de Trégastel or theTrégastel marine aquarium nestles under a set of pink granite blocks. This site was in turn the Chapel of Coz-Ilis until about 1877, troglodyte dwelling for successively three families of fishermen including the Adam family, ammunition depot during the war, prehistoric museum before becoming since 1967 the current aquarium dedicated to coastal species from the English Channel. The roof of the first room has a single span of 22 × 15 meters. It weighs almost 5,500 tons! It is one thing to see here, a must !!!

In near Trégastel is the l’île Renote island, now a peninsula, with many beaches. This peninsula offers a view of the Sept-Îles, the lighthouse of Ploumanac’h and the island of Château de Costaérès. A path for hikers goes around the peninsula, about 2 km long. This path runs along the numerous beaches and coves that border the peninsula. Nice indeed !

The Château de Costaérès is located on the Island of Costaérès in the territory of the town of Trégastel, The term castle is overused, it is in fact a large manor of neo-medieval style characteristic of the large holiday homes of the end of the 19C on the pink granite coast. Its interior layout was designed with reclaimed wood from a three-masted stranded in winter 1896, the Maurice. This was built on an island bought by Bruno Abakanowicz (also called Bruno Abdank), engineer and mathematician of Polish origin at the end of the summer 1892. After 1900, the date of the owner’s death, his daughter, Sofia Abakanowicz, who became Madame Poray, had the villa enlarged by a west wing on the back of the facade. During WWII, the villa was requisitioned by the Nazi army, and suffered some interior damage. This castle took the name of the islet of one hectare on which it was built: Costaérès which comes from coz-seherez which means in Breton “old drying factory”. It was there, in fact, that the sailors dried the fish in the sun. The islet is located opposite the beaches of Tourony and Saint-Guirec (see post for Ploumanac’h), and separated from the latter by the channel of the port of Ploumanac’h (see post) formed by the stream of Grand-Traouiero. It is accessible at low tide via plage Tourony beach.

The city of Trégastel on its heritage: https://www.tregastel.fr/Patrimoine

The Granite Coast of Brittany tourist office on Trégastel: https://www.bretagne-cotedegranitrose.com/villes-de-la-cote-de-granit-rose/tregastel/

There you go folks, so much to do and see here, this is a general overview , see other posts. For now enjoy part of the Granite Coast of Brittany in the Côtes d’Armor dept 22,  and Trégastel.

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!

And here is terminus of my latest road warrior trips in my lovely Bretagne! This was my last stop on the trip back home, and it was another first time visit in my Brittany; the town of Lamballe. I have heard about it as one of my collegues now works there and he is from the area but never visited until now. Better late than never the old saying goes, and I was glad I did. Let me tell you a bit on the Collegiate Church Notre Dame of Lamballe !!!

The Collegiate Church of Notre-Dame de Lamballe (otherwise known as Notre-Dame-de-Grande-Puissance), built in 1202 ,this imposing church was the chapel of the castle of the Dukes of Penthièvre, whose county was created in 1023 for Eudon, youngest son of Geoffroy I, Duke of Brittany. It is located within the closed enclosure of the lordship fortification, This enlarged Romanesque church in the Gothic style has a Louis 14 organ case. It was added in 1741 to the rood screen donated by Marguerite de Clisson dating from 1415. The Collegiate Church bears witness to the town’s prestigious past. It lets you imagine what the ramparts and the castle of the Dukes of Penthièvre could be. Overlooking Lamballe, it offers an admirable view of the city.

This Notre Dame Church, fortified in the 14C, has the advantage of juxtaposing Romanesque, Radiant Gothic and Flamboyant Gothic elements. The fortifications are located at the bedside of the church and along the southern facade, the church was in fact integrated into the defense system of the castle of Lamballe now disappeared. This castle occupied the site of the park located north of the collegiate church. The first written traces mentioning Notre Dame only appear at the beginning of the 13C: Guy de Bretagne thanks to his marriage to Jeanne d’Avaugour, the construction of the church continues . The daughter Jeanne de Penthièvre, heiress of the County, married Charles de Blois in 1337. They continued the construction of the south side of the church , and raised the pillars supporting the tower. Upon the death of the Duke of Brittany Jean III of Brittany in 1341, Jeanne de Penthièvre and Jean IV de Montfort both claim the ducal crown, it is the beginning of the War of Succession of Brittany which will have important consequences on the architecture of Notre Dame. Charles de Blois reinforces the defenses of the castle, the Notre-Dame Church was integrated into it, After having been liberated by his army, the Duke orders the complete dismantling of the castle of Lamballe. This was completely destroyed in 1420 but Notre-Dame de Lamballe remained intact, including its fortified parts. Jean V took possession of Notre-Dame and created there, in 1437, a college of six canons, the church then became a collegiate.

The French revolutionary period brings its share of degradations inside the church, the statues and the organ are destroyed. Notre-Dame becomes Temple of Reason, Various works are also undertaken on the south side, where the exploitation of a quarry had weakened the rock on which the collegiate church rests. A retaining wall surmounted by battlements was built there during the second half of the 19C. A new sacristy was built in 1885, Very impressive church indeed !

This imposing Notre Dame Church was the chapel of the castle of the Dukes of Penthièvre, whose county was created in 1023 for Eudon, youngest son of Geoffroy I, Duke of Brittany. It is located within the closed enclosure of the lordship fortification, This enlarged Romanesque church in the Gothic style has a Louis 14 organ case. It was added in 1741 to the rood screen donated by Marguerite de Clisson dating from 1415. The Collegiate Church bears witness to the town’s prestigious past. It lets you imagine what the ramparts and the castle of the Dukes of Penthièvre could be. 

The new town of Lamballe-Armor on the Collegiale Church Notre Dame de Grande Puissance: https://www.lamballe-armor.bzh/accueil-lamballe-armor/temps-libres/tourisme/en-ville-et-alentours/la-collegiale

The local Cap d’Erquy-Valandre tourist office on Collegiale Church Notre Dame de Grande Puissance: https://www.capderquy-valandre.com/en/plan-your-stay/must-dos/once-upon-a-time/collegiale-notre-dame-de-grande-puissance-1609594

There you go folks,I reach the end of this marveloius road warrior trip into my lovely Bretagne! Lamballe is another town we need to be back for more and all worth it me think. To add, it is very close to the beaches of Pléneuf Val André (see post) , for a one two wonderful combination. You will glad you visit the new Lamballe-Armor, still commonly call Lamballe. Again,hope you enjoy the post as I. 

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!