So ,again, and never stops , on my road warrior ways in my beautiful Morbihan, I come to a familiar place. These are the small picturesques towns on the off the beaten path we love. I will take you back to Saint Gravé. This is a new visit with new pictures, see my other post on the town. The town of Saint Gravé is about 78 km from my house, Hope you enjoy this post on the Back to the Church Saint Denis of Saint Gravé !
The Church Saint-Denis built by 1901 replaces an old church destroyed in the late 19C. The old church remains only part of the Sainte-Anne Chapel, dated 1864. The Church houses a polychrome wooden statue of Santa Gravida or Our Lady of Advent. It retains a processional cross in silver of 1664. The parish church, under the term of Saint Denis the Areopagita, preserves some remnants of an ancient church south of the nave. There are also two ogival stained glass windows with flaming mullets, impellers and four leaf clover . The chapels once wore the names of Cancoet, the Brossais and the Saulaye. Today they are dedicated to the Rosary, to St. Anne and to the Sacred Heart.
The current Saint Denis Church was almost entirely rebuilt in 1901. It was consecrated on October 23, 1901. The interior facing in white Poitou stones provides great clarity. Of the first church of the 15C, only a few stones remain at the bottom of the nave and of the 19C, the Sainte Anne Chapel. Rebuilt for the first time in the 16C, enlarged for the Brotherhood of the Rosary in the 17C, and despite a new portal in the middle of the 19C, the church fell into ruins at the end of the 19C.
Until the French revolution, the dead were buried in the nave of the church, then in the cemetery which surrounded it. In 1876, the cemetery was moved to a place called “la Grand-Mare” at the entrance to the town, near the roundabout, where the pillars and the cross had been placed. The church is dedicated to Saint Denis. Inside, a statue represents him as a bishop. First bishop of Paris, Denis was beheaded in 119. Legend has it that he carried his head for a thousand steps to give it to a Christian. His relics are kept in a chest. See the Basilica St Denis north of Paris.
Also in the Saint Denis Church, a polychrome wooden statue from the 16C represents a pregnant Virgin (pregnant) but holding the child Jesus. The name of the town, Saint Gravé, comes from Santa Gravida also called Our Lady of Advent. The statue would have been brought back from the fountain to the south of the town.
The city of Saint Gravé on its heritage: https://www.saint-grave.fr/decouvrir/histoire-et-patrimoine/
The Rochefort en Terre tourist office on Saint Gravé: https://www.rochefortenterre-tourisme.bzh/sorganiser/nos-villes-et-villages/saint-grave/
There you go folks, now I feel better telling you about these small gems in my beautiful countryside of Morbihan in my lovely Bretagne. Little Saint Gravé is quant, pretty and if combine with a visit to the Church Saint Denis is a perfect getaway by car of course. Hope you enjoy the post as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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