Chapel of Notre-Dame du Yaudet, Ploulec'h
The chapel of Notre-Dame du Yaudet is located in Ploulec'h, in Brittany. The current chapel dates from 1860 but retains some elements of the original chapel, built in the fifteenth century. It is built in the middle of a parish enclosure, with a nave extended by a choir with a flat chevet, two side aisles and a trégorrois type steeple. The indulgence of the Yaudet attracts fishermen and parishioners every year. There is an altarpiece depicting a reclining Virgin nursing the Baby Jesus.
About this building
The chapel of Notre-Dame du Yaudet is located in Ploulec'h, in Brittany. Built on the foundations of a Roman temple, it was originally constructed in the eleventh century and then replaced in the 15th century. The current chapel dates from 1860 but retains some elements of the 15th century chapel.
The granite chapel, built in the middle of a parish enclosure, is composed of a nave extended by a choir with a flat chevet and two collaterals arcades inscribed in a rectangular plan. The south and north walls are each pierced by a flamboyant Gothic door. A Trégorrois style bell-tower, placed to the left of a circular tower sheltering a masonry staircase, rises to the west. The broken cradle vault of the nave and the semi-cradle aisles are covered by a paneled frame. Six large arches are supported by pillars crowned with capitals.
The chapel of Notre-Dame du Yaudet is “in great veneration, and all the country surrounding the sailors go there on pilgrimage". The blessing of the Yaudet, which takes place every third Sunday of May, is the subject of a mass and a procession during which the men carry the banners, the women the statues and the children the boats. This procession is followed by a blessing of the sea.
In the church there is a 17th century altarpiece depicting a reclining Virgin breast feeding the Infant Jesus, a rare representation in which some see a survival of the goddess Cybele, frequently represented in this way.
