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Origin and history

The Church of Our Lady of Rumengol, located in the municipality of Faou (Finistère), is a religious building built mainly in the sixteenth, seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. It is distinguished by its parish enclosure, typical of Brittany, and houses two annual pardons: Sunday of the Trinity and August 15 (Assumption). Ranked a historical monument in 1985, it was built by the Viscounts Quelennec in the 16th century (porches, walls of the transept), then remodeled in the 17th and 18th centuries (choir, nave, sacristy). Its calvary, dating from 1443, and its southern porch adorned with a tympanum representing the Adoration of the Magi testify to its rich artistic and religious heritage.

The sacristy, completed in 1694, had a roof in overturned carriage, while the choir and arms of the transept were enlarged in the 18th century. The church preserves 17th-century altarpieces, statues of Breton saints (Guénolé, Corentin) and 19th-century stained glass windows, including a windowmaster evoking the creation of the sanctuary. An ossuary, now extinct, and an outside chapel (1880) once completed the enclosure. The site, a place of pilgrimage attested from the fourteenth century, is also known to house a colony protected from bats in its attic since 2001.

The cemetery calvary, made between 1433 and 1457 for Marie de Poulmic and Jean du Quélennec, was moved in 1925 before returning to its original place in 1997. An outdoor chapel, built in 1880 by architect Gustave Bigot, serves during forgiveness. The church, a communal property, combines Breton religious architecture, remarkable liturgical furniture (chair of 1779, organs of 1876) and local history, marked by noble families such as the Quelennec.

The materials used reflect the local geological diversity: kersantite for the south porch, quartz microdiorite for the sacristy, and a mixture of granite, shale and kerantite for the choir. The restored coats of arms and inscriptions (like the one of 1694 on the sacristy) recall the construction phases and donors. The site, classified in 1927 for its enclosure, illustrates the evolution of a medieval place of worship into a major diocesan sanctuary, still active today.

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