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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The present chapel of Koat-Keo was built in 1937 in Coat-Quéau, in the commune of Scrignac (Finistère), at the initiative of Abbé Jean-Marie Perrot, founder of the Bleun-Brug, a Breton Catholic movement. Designed by architect James Bouillé, figure of the Breton Autonomist Party and creator of the Breton Christian Art Workshop, it embodies a synthesis between modernity and Breton identity. Its gothic style, its open porch with an outdoor altar, and its decorations signed by sculptor Jules-Charles Le Bozec and master glassmaker Job Gevel make it an architectural manifesto militant.

The chapel replaces a medieval building in ruins since the late 19th century, whose stones were sold in 1925 to the Bolloré family to build a chapel in Cascadec (Scaër). The site of Coat-Quéau, an ancient Treve of Scrignac, housed a school in the 15th century and a chapel surrounded by a parish enclosure, mentioned in 1388. The new chapel, consecrated in 1938, became a symbol of Breton nationalism, notably after the assassination of Abbé Perrot in 1943, buried on his side.

The building, facing southwest/northeast, adopts a tau-shaped plan, with a monumental porch serving as an outdoor chapel. An inscription in Breton on the lintel of the transept sud commemorates the millennium of the "restoration of Brittany" (937–1937). The adjacent calvary, the only vestige of the old chapel, and the tributes to Abbé Perrot and the rector Jegou (killed during the Revolution) underline his historic anchor. Ranked a historic monument in 1997, it suffered a fire in 2019, damaging its roof and central part.

The chapel of Koat-Keo illustrates the political and artistic commitment of its creators. James Bouillé, by his neobreton style, sought to revitalize a modern Breton aesthetic, while Father Perrot made it a gathering place for the Bleun-Brug. The stained glass windows of Job Gevel, representing the seven saints of Brittany, and the sculptures of Le Bozec reinforce his identity. Its placister, inscribed with the building, still hosts pilgrimages, perpetuating its community and symbolic vocation.

The site preserves some traces of its medieval past: a fountain and the 16th century calvary, bearing witness to the ancient parish enclosure. Architectural elements of the original chapel, such as bell tower stones, were reused in Cascadec, while pieces of furniture are now on display at the Breton Departmental Museum in Quimper. These remains recall the historical importance of Coat-Quéau, a place of devotion and memory since the Middle Ages.

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