
Notre-Dame du Roncier Basilica
Josselin, FR
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.