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Origin and history

The Abbey of Notre-Dame de Coatmalouen, founded in 1142 by monks of B with regard to the initiative of Alain le Noir, Count of Penthièvre, is part of the Breton Cistercian movement. Its history, marked by periods of prosperity and decline, reflects the tensions between religious and secular power, particularly with the establishment of the regime of the beginning in the sixteenth century.

The current ruins, including an 18th-century abbey without roof and a triangular façade, bear witness to six centuries of monastic life. The abbey, located at the border of Cornwall and the Trégor, was a place of prayer and work for hundreds of monks, until its disappearance in 1796 with the death of the last two religious.

The daily life of the monks was rhythmic by offices, agricultural work and studies, in strict austerity: frequent fasts, frugal meals, perpetual silence and common dormitory. Their existence, cloistered and ascetic, contrasted with the abuses of the commendatary abbots, exploiting local resources to the detriment of religious and people.

Ranked a historic monument in 1964, the Abbey illustrates Breton Cistercian architecture and the turbulent history of monastic orders. Its decline, accelerated by the Revolution, ended a spiritual and economic adventure begun in the Middle Ages, in a context of religious reforms and noble lusts.

Today, the site, open to visit, allows to discover the remains of a religious and agricultural heritage. Excavations and studies, such as those of Dom Alexis Presse in the 20th century, have allowed the life of the monks to be partially restored, between prayer, labor and tensions with secular powers.

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