Chapel du château de Callac

The legend of the foundation of Notre-Dame du Roncier says that in 808, a peasant found a statue of the Virgin in a bramble bush while working on the banks of the Oust. He tried to bring her back home, but the statue kept disappearing and reappeared in his bramble bush. He decided to build a chapel and, over time, other people came to settle in what became the city of Josselin. The sickle that the peasant used would have been hung in the chapel and would never have worn out over time. The brambles growing on the gable could never have been pulled out. Revolutionaries would have tried to burn the original statue, but a fragment was pulled from the flames and placed in a reliquary. The Basilica of Notre-Dame du Roncier de Josselin is a key building in the Breton architecture of the late Middle Ages. In the heart of the town, this emblematic building, which has been redesigned several times, stands out for its size and its flamboyant Gothic style of the late 15th century. From its bell tower, you can admire the panorama of the town, its majestic castle and the surrounding area.

The church of Saint-Patern was destroyed in the 10th century during the Norman invasions of Brittany and rebuilt in the following century to become an important place of pilgrimage throughout the Middle Ages. The Romanesque church was hit by storms in 1721-1726. The present building was rebuilt in 1727 to the plans of the Vannes architect Olivier Delourme. The grand staircase, the granite tower and its lantern were begun in 1769 but the spire was not completed until 1826.

The church of Notre-Dame de la Tronchaye, which takes its name from a statue of the Virgin found in a hollow trunk, has some remarkable Romanesque parts, notably the bell tower. In the 15th and 16th centuries, under the authority of the de Rieux family, it was erected as a collegiate church and, afterwards, underwent some embellishment work. During the Revolution, the church was used as a depot and store. Then in the 19th century, other transformations modified the building and its surroundings. It did not finally take on its present appearance until 1924 and was classified as a Historic Monument shortly afterwards, in 1931.