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Origin and history

The Abbey of Notre-Dame de Langonnet, founded on June 20, 1136 by Conan III, Duke of Brittany, and his mother Ermengarde d'Anjou, is a former Cistercian abbey located in the southeast of Langonnet. Twelve monks from the abbey of Almône (Loir-et-Cher) settled there from its foundation. The Cistercians sanitized the surrounding marshes and cultivated the land, deeply marking the local landscape. The abbey then depended on the diocese of Quimper and played a major economic role, possessing 82 villages, manor houses and forests in the 16th century.

During the War of Succession of Brittany, the abbey was partially destroyed, leaving only the chapel and some walls standing. It was rebuilt between 1470 and 1518 by Fathers Vincent and Henri de Kergoët. In the 16th century, the wars of the League chased the monks, and the church was transformed into a stable. A major reconstruction took place between 1650 and 1780, with the addition of a church dedicated in 1789 by Abbé François Chevreul.

At the Revolution, the religious were expelled in 1790, and the abbey became a refuge for the Chouans before being vandalized. In 1806 Napoleon I installed a public stud, the first of Brittany, which prospered until his transfer to Hennebont in 1857. Returned to the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit, it will house a school, a novitiate, and an African art museum in the 20th century. Today, it serves as a resting place for older missionaries and hosts a missionary animation centre.

Architecturally, the abbey preserves a 13th century capitular hall, ogival-style, with arched arches and carved capitals. Subsequent reconstructions (XVIIth–XXth centuries) changed its original plan. The present chapel dates from the 19th century, and the cloister was rebuilt between 1930 and 1936. The abbey is also known to house the relics of Saint Maurice de Carnoët since 1880.

Founded in 1177 by Maurice Duault (later Saint Maurice), Langonnet was an influential religious and economic centre. Ranked a historic monument in 1928, it illustrates the evolution of Cistercian abbeys in Brittany, between destruction, reconstruction and adaptation to new vocations (harass, mission, heritage).

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