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Origin and history

The chapel Saint-Colomban is located in the same hamlet in the commune of Carnac (Morbihan). It was built in the late 16th century, around 1575 according to Roger Frey, or between 1585 and 1600 under the rectorate of René de Larlan. Dedicated to the Irish monk Colomban de Luxeuil, who reportedly landed in the area around 610, it is associated with local customs related to the protection of the weak mind, such as the ritual of the "hole of the mind" still attested at the beginning of the twentieth century.

The chapel, flamboyant Gothic style, consists of a nave of 20 meters and a south transept with an altar dedicated to the Virgin. Its western facade is surmounted by a bell tower decorated with pinnacles and an octagonal turret. The walls of the nave bear graffiti of 16th-century English caraks, evoking a British incursion to Locmariaquer in 1548. A Saint-Colomban fountain, located 330 metres away, completes this cultural complex.

The chapel has been listed as a historic monument since 13 February 1928. It houses an annual pardon on the first Sunday in August and is open to the public in July-August. The coats of arms of Larlan and Champion's families, present on the walls, testify to their role in its construction. The north gate, dated 1621, could come from a later restoration.

The cult of Saint Colomban, patron of the weak mind, has led to popular practices such as immersion of the head in the "hole of the spirit". These traditions, described by Zacharia Le Rouzic, reflect the local importance of this place of devotion, still active today.

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