Paris1972-Versailles2003

And I am finishing my road warrior latest trip to wonderful Malestroit in my beautiful Morbihan 56, and in my lovely Bretagne. Nice to be back, lots of memories, see my other posts on the town in my blog. I like to finish with some architecture and history to boot on the curiosities of Malestroit !! Hope you enjoy it as I.

The Pont-Neuf bridge built in 1863 is a bridge with 3 arches and lower arc on the Oust river, Here you can walk along the quays and see and admire the magnificent Canal Nantes Brest that passes the town along the Oust river. 

The houses on the Rue du Général de Gaulle are wonderful such as the House of the Pelican from the 15C, Breton Gothic style; it owes its name to a high relief representing a pelican located on the corner post (the pelican is the symbol of Redemption); The La Truie qui file or sow who spins; 15C house in half-timbered with old stalls, presenting allegorical sculptures with two meanings: a hunter blowing a horn, a man beating his wife, a sow spinning her distaff, a threatening dog, a wolf’s mouth, a hare playing the bagpipe, The house at No 7 La Maison Le Moué 16C; and the house at no, 8. The second picture is more marvels of yesteryear on Rue Sainte Anne!

The Place du Bouffay is the nerve center of Malestroit. It is here and in its very close surroundings that the shops, bars and restaurants of the city are concentrated. From the terrace of one of them, you will observe the rich architecture of the buildings that surround you. Between the bourgeois dwellings, the half-timbered houses, the sculpted facades and the magnificent Saint-Gilles Church (see posts), you won’t know where to turn. See house no 13 Pl du Bouffay 2^nd quarter of the 17C now créperie restaurant.

Right by the Place du Bouffay Malestroit hosts two markets per week, One on Thursday morning from 8h to 13h, and the 1st Thursday of each month is the monthly fair. The one we saw was the Saturday morning from 8h to 12h30 with stands on shellfish and fish, fruit and vegetables, cheeses, pancakes and bread two Saturdays a month.

The city of Malestroit on its heritage: https://www.villedemalestroit.bzh/index.php/tourisme-et-patrimoine/presentation-et-actualite

The local Broceliande Vacances tourist board on Malestroit and its heritage:   https://www.broceliande-vacances.com/decouvrir/incontournables/canal-nantes-brest/petites-cites-caractere-canal/malestroit/

There you go folks, something different in my off the beaten path road warrior ways. This is a must for the nature lover, and those walkers, cyclists will enjoy it much. We have done some walks along the canal and its wonderful, worth the detour to the pearl of the Oust , and to see the curiosities of Malestroit !!

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

So on my road warrior ways sometimes I come and go quickly and see things short. No problems, we will always have tomorrow and we always come back as we did today to Malestroit in my beautiful Morbihan and my lovely Bretagne. I need to tell you again and some new about wonderful historical monuments of Malestroit !!! Hope you enjoy it as I.

I have given you plenty of history and architecture on previous post on Malestroit but this is again a pass by, At 4 Faubourg Saint-Michel  ,you see the wonderful Monastery of the Augustinians Sisters, and next door the Chapelle Notre Dame de Pontmain of the Monastery of the Augustinians of the Immaculate Conception.  The Augustinian Sisters Monastery is renowned for the help and care that the sisters provided to the wounded during WWII. It is also here that lived Mother Yvonne-Aimée, known for having hidden and saved a hundred soldiers and resistance fighters. The sister also created the park there in 1930. The 17C chapel, the reception of the Community, the cemetery with the tomb of Mother Yvonne-Aimée and the park are open to all.

The Chapelle Sainte Anne is on the road to Vannes, The lords of Malestroit erected a hospital in the 14C ; composed of a house and a chapel, it was destroyed in the 16C, during the Wars of Religion, then rebuilt. At the end of the 19C and beginning of the 20C, the Faubourg Sainte-Anne developed around the rebuilt chapel. Even today, the city of Malestroit perpetuates this hospitable tradition.

This is the Augustinian Sisters Monastery: https://augustines-malestroit.com/

The city of Malestroit on its heritage: https://www.villedemalestroit.bzh/index.php/tourisme-et-patrimoine/presentation-et-actualite

The local Broceliande Vacances tourist board on Malestroit and its heritage:  https://www.broceliande-vacances.com/decouvrir/incontournables/canal-nantes-brest/petites-cites-caractere-canal/malestroit/

There you go folks, something different in my off the beaten path road warrior ways. This is a must for the nature lover, and those walkers, cyclists will enjoy it much. We have done some walks along the canal and its wonderful, worth the detour to the pearl of the Oust , and to see the wonderful monuments as above in Malestroit !!!

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

And here I am back in my beautiful inland Morbihan road warrior trips and more beauties of course! I had briefly written on this wonderful town of Malestroit, but will update on the Church Saint Gilles and then more. Hope you enjoy it as I.

The Church of Saint Gilles, very nice in a pedestrian section by the pl du Bouffray, really nice,the most impressive is the meridional  façade shown very high on the front. On each side of the south portal you have two doors sculpture from the 17C, you can see encrusted on the wall the sculptues that comes from the church of the 11C, great reliefs rounded, chapters and corbets, all representing a melee of attributes of the evangelists  ,the lion of Saint-Marc landed by  Samson  that symbolises maybe the man of Saint-Mathieu,the deer of Saint-Luc resting on a socket decorated with the eagle of Saint-Jeanand.

The Saint Gilles Church was built in the 12C, then partly rebuilt in the 16C and 18C. Its 12C south transept, its double nave, its particular statue bases, its stained glass windows, as well as its exceptional 13C paintings. The first builders first built a chapel there, before building a church there. Romanesque in the 12C. Following a fire, it was partly rebuilt in the 16C. Its 12C southern brace, its double nave, its particular statue bases, its stained glass windows, make it an atypical church. At the end of 2011, during a restoration, exceptional paintings were also discovered on the vault: probably dating from the 13C, these paintings represent a unicorn feline, a fighting elephant and a centaur. The research around his paintings is not over, they have not yet revealed all their secrets! An ox with large horns, like those in Tuscany, guards the south facade of the church. This animal, carved in half-life size, is the symbol of Saint Luke.

Inside the Church of St Gilles , you have the stained glass of the tree of Jesse  15C, the large stained glass window, to the left of the high altar of 1900, which represents the life of Saint-Gilles , the Chair aux Sirens  17C and the reliquary hand of Saint-Gilles, 15C in silver bronze.  On both sides of the south gate, consisting of two doors carved from the 17C, one can see, embedded in the wall, sculptures that come from the Church of the 11-12C. You discover a nave approached by an aisle to the north; large semi-broken arcades with octagonal columns separate the two spaces. A wooden barrel vault spans the nave and aisle, a set built in the 15C and early 16C.

The city of Malestroit on its heritage: https://www.villedemalestroit.bzh/index.php/tourisme-et-patrimoine/presentation-et-actualite

The local Broceliande Vacances tourist board on Malestroit and its heritage: https://www.broceliande-vacances.com/decouvrir/incontournables/canal-nantes-brest/petites-cites-caractere-canal/malestroit/

The Catholic Parish of Malestroit Sérent on a nice video of Saint Gilles Church :https://www.malestroit-serent-catholique.fr/

There you go folks,another nice spot in my off the beaten path road warrior ways. This is a must for the nature lover, and those walkers, cyclists will enjoy it much. We have done some walks along the canal and its wonderful, worth the detour to the pearl of the Oust , and to see the Saint Gilles Church of Malestroit.

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