As I was out in my local road warrior ways to visit a town that needed to stop by finally (see post) with time, decided to come back to nearby Le Bono, This one have visited several times and many posts but these are new sites and pictures of this wonderful coastal town, For reference, Le Bono is located in my beautiful Morbihan department 56, in my lovely Bretagne region of my belle France. The town is located approximately 4 km from Auray and around 20 km from Vannes, as well as about 19 km from my house, Therefore, let me tell you about the Notre Dame de Becquerel Chapel and the Kervilio pond of Le Bono, Hope you enjoy the post as I,
We came to see on a first visit the Chapelle Notre Dame de Becquerel located between the towns of Le Bono and Plougoumelen, This is a 16C chapel with an altar built on a spring, probably a place of ancient worship because this water was believed to have curative properties against sore mouth. There is also, an enclosure and fountain from the 14C as the chapel was an ancient place of pilgrimage, where people came to find the body of a missing sailor or to get news of a loved one who had gone far away It is a chapel in the shape of a Latin cross whose choir with a flat apse is built on a miraculous fountain which springs from a recess in the wall, forming a large niche under a third-point arch which, like the large window of the apse has a network composed of trilobes and quatrefoils, must be a reuse of the primitive construction. The chapel is covered with a framework with tie beams decorated with crocodile heads and sand pits finely carved with scenes and animals: a pig playing the biniou and another the bombarde, a crouching drunkard, a character in an indecent posture, etc…
The construction of the choir and the north transept of the Notre Dame de Béquerel Chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary, in the late Middle Ages, shortly after the end of the Hundred Years’ War (1453), in the second half of the 15C. The construction work on the nave is from the second half of the 16C. In the 17C, the nave was extended to the west and the floor of the chapel was raised by one meter. The water from its fountain was believed to have curative properties for sore mouths. This belief, at the origin of great ,devotion, made the Notre Dame de Bequerel Chapel a very popular place. On the northeast buttress, a monkey hiding its mouth with a paw perhaps recalls this reputation… on elements of the framework, sculpted decorations representing animals or grotesque characters, an enigmatic inscription dating from an old cornice from 1563 in Roman numerals and a superb bearded man’s head sticking out his tongue. The Notre Dame de Bequerel Chapel has the particularity of being located in the town of Le Bono which is responsible for it but attached to the parish of Plougoumelen (see post).
Notre Dame de Becquerel: Chapel is in an isolated location, on the banks of the Kervilio pond, where you leave your car and walk about 200 meters in a forest trail. A beautiful Christ on the cross, from the 16C, was transported on a new cross 19C erected in front of the western portal. The western portal, with triangular pilasters and pediment, is clearly Renaissance.
Right next to the chapel above, you can walk on a forested trail that is just pure nature at its best with wonderful views of the Len stream and the Bono river, This is walker’s heaven and we only did a bit, The coastal path along the Kervilio pond, at Le Bono, connecting the mill of the same name to the Notre Dame de Bequerel Chapel. With a length of 900 meters, this coastal easement runs along plots in wooded areas near Bequerel and Kervilio, agricultural plots and moors. The footprint of the pedestrian path is about 1.5 to 2 meters wide. Nearly 70% of the route is protected by bocage or deciduous hedges. In order to preserve the tranquility of species in certain parts, it was reinforced with the construction of a fence (bird observatory) and the planting of a hedge. The étang de Kervilio pond is connected to the Bono river, via the Kervilio mill, which is itself connected to the sea via the Auray river, Wonderful nature next to history and architecture beauty, sublime !!
The town of Le Bono on its heritage : https://www.lebono.fr/decouvrir-le-bono/patrimoine/
The local Gulf of Morbihan tourist office on Le Bono : https://www.golfedumorbihan.bzh/explorer-vannes/decouvrir-vannes/golfe-morbihan/autour-golfe/le-bono/
There you go folks , some more interesting road warrior and on foot trip off the beaten path in my beautiful Morbihan; Plenty more to see and do here. Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Notre Dame de Becquerel and Etang de Kervilio of Le Bono as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 