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Origin and history

The Abbey of Notre-Dame de Daoulas, founded in 1173 by Guyomarch IV of Leon to atone for the murder of his brother Hamon, bishop of Leon, is an emblematic monument of the order of Saint-Augustin in Brittany. Located in the Finistère, it was built on the site of a pre-existing castle and became a powerful religious and seigneurial centre. The abbey, of a sober Romanesque style, was consecrated in 1232 and underwent major changes in the 15th and 16th centuries, including the addition of a Gothic choir and a porch characteristic of the Léonard architecture.

The legend attributes an older foundation to the abbey, linked to the murder of two monks, Saint Tadec and Saint Judulus, by a pagan lord of the Faou in the sixth century. However, archaeological excavations did not reveal any trace of occupation prior to the 12th century. The abbey prospered thanks to the gifts of the lords of Leon and the bishops of Quimper, but suffered damage during the Hundred Years' War, repaired under the abbatiate of Jean Guerault (1350-1398). In the 17th century, it was attached to the Séminaire des Chaplains de la Marine de Brest, managed by the Jesuits, before being sold as national property in 1792.

In the 19th century, architect Yves Bigot undertook a controversial restoration, demolishing the Gothic choir to rebuild a neo-Gothic apse and moving the southern porch, now classified as a historical monument. The site, acquired by the Conseil départemental du Finistère in 1984, now houses a scientifically recognized garden of medicinal plants from the five continents and an ethnographic museum. The remains of the novel cloister, among the best preserved in Brittany, and the fountain Notre-Dame-des-Fontaines, dated 1550, bear witness to its rich past.

The abbey was a powerful seigneury, with rights of high justice, tithes, and income from the "Plougastel Passage", a strategic river ferry. She also had numerous priores-curées in Cornwall and Leon, and her abbots enjoyed preeminence in local churches. Monastic life declined after the Revolution, and the buildings, partially destroyed in the 19th century, were restored to become a cultural and educational place.

Today, the Abbey of Daoulas consists of the Romanesque abbey, the reconstituted cloister, the porch of the Apostles (1566), and the chapel Our Lady of the Fontaines. The site, classified as a historic monument in 1886, combines architectural, botanical and historical heritage, illustrating nearly nine centuries of Breton history, from Augustine canons to contemporary exhibitions on cultural diversity.

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