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Origin and history

The Saint-Yves Chapel, located at the place called "Saint-Yves" in the commune of Bubry (Morbihan), is built in 1589 to enlarge a modest Romanesque building probably erected in the fourteenth century. According to tradition, its foundation would be linked to a family with St.Yves among its members. As early as the 15th century, the place became an important Breton pilgrimage, rivaling Tréguier, thanks to the cult of Saint Yves of Truth, replacing a dark local saint, Moam. In 1627, the chapel had five altars and four chaplains, sheltering a reliquary in vermeil (1615) containing a bone of the saint's arm, carried in procession every fourth Sunday of May during forgiveness, followed by a tantad (purifying fire) and a community meal.

The chapel, plan in Latin cross with a polygonal bedside typical of the Beaumanoir style, is 37 meters long, with a bell tower-porch of 33 meters. Its architecture combines Gothic (structure) and Renaissance (departures: south gate, belfry). During the French Revolution, it housed refractory priests and clandestine masses, despite the arrests and executions of two chaplains (Olivier Le Fellic in 1793, Jean Le Goff in 1794). Built into a parish church in 1923, it preserves a nearby cemetery, where General Joseph Fraboulet de Kerléadec is buried.

The forgiveness of Saint Yves, described in 1943, still attracts pilgrims from the Trégor, invoking Saint Yves of Truth for financial disputes. The site also includes a fountain of devotion (1601), a monumental cross (19th century), and stained glass windows. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1925, the chapel illustrates the persistence of Breton traditions, between faith, popular justice, and cultural resistance.

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