I like to take you a nice beach town that has wonderful monuments, just browse my blog and search Plouharnel, It’s another gem in my beautiful Morbihan! I like to put this monument with its own post which me think deserve it, Therefore, he is my take on the Chapelle de Sainte Barbe of Plouharnel. Hope you enjoy the post as I,
I pass by it almost every weekend when I am not traveling out of France as it is just south of me in the peninsula of Quiberon just before the isthmus. Plouharnel is a town in my beautiful Morbihan Department 56 of my lovely Bretagne region, This town is located at the bottom of Quiberon Bay, 3 km from Carnac, and 25 km from my house.
The monument to see here is the Chapelle de Sainte Barbe (Santa Barbara) which has a history of the Chouans rebels that were here camping with Gen Cadoudal back in 1795; they fought the French revolution. As many led you to believe that it was a revolution on the king and period, it was longer than that and not totally wipe out the resistance than until 1832. Before all the combattants were given pardon and titles given back, even some like Gen Cadoudal (see post) posthumously given Marshal of France! And the kings came back until 1881 stop for refusing to use the current revolutionary flag of France!
The Chapelle Sainte Barbe is built in a rectangular shape and has recessed buttresses and pinnacles. It has a square bell tower above the western door framed by pinnacles. Two incomplete statues surmount the corner buttresses of the facade. The bell tower of the Chapelle Sainte-Barbe was recently renovated and a new weather vane in the shape of a fish was installed to replace the old one which had fallen to the ground, A staircase provides access to the bell tower. This bell tower has been famous since General Hoche (native of Versailles and revolutionary) established an observatory there around 1795 during the Quiberon affair (see above).
The stained glass window retraces the life of Saint Barbara. The tower where her father wanted to lock her up to avoid any contact with Christians is present. The father who raises his sword on his daughter who does not want to deny her religion, is represented in the center. The father struck down, heavenly punishment, is represented at the top of the stained glass window. The stained glass window was made between 1979 and 1980, The interior of the Chapelle Sainte Barbe was recently renovated (2018-19) thanks to the work of the association “Les Amis de la chapel et du site de Sainte-Barbe”
It is believed that an oratory existed before the Chapelle Sainte-Barbe, a chapel dedicated to Santa Barbara, invoked the saint in places of great peril, like the sea here. A path leads below the fountain to a very pretty washhouse. As an anecdote always like to tell, Santa Barbara is the patron saint of my native town and we invoked her in my house.
The Association of Friends of the Chapel Santa Barbara : https://chapelle-sainte-barbe.weebly.com/
The local Bay of Quiberon tourist office on the chapel: https://www.baiedequiberon.bzh/a-voir-a-faire/culture-et-patrimoine/chapelles-et-eglises/chapelle-sainte-barbe
The city of Plouharnel on its heritage: http://www.mairieplouharnel.fr/fr/information/87929/histoire-patrimoine
There you go folks, a nice town to visit with history all around you and a nice Chapelle de Sainte Barbe of Plouharnel. Again, take a look at my other posts on the town, and hope you enjoy this post as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
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