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Origin and history

The Saint-Adrien Fountain is a fountain of devotion located at Saint-Adrien, in the commune of Saint-Barthélemy, Morbihan (Bretagne). Built at the end of the 15th century, it is contemporary of the nearby Saint-Adrien chapel, built a few meters southeast. Its architecture is distinguished by a cubic base adorned with oblique foothills, housing a niche where the spring springs. A wooden statue representing a templier is installed there, while a calvary, with arms decorated with Christ, Saint John and a Virgin to the Child, overcomes it. The Gothic-style cross is covered with a building dais and retains traces of an old brick-red painting.

Ranked a historical monument by decree of 5 October 1928, the Saint-Adrien fountain illustrates the importance of the fountains of devotion in Brittany at the end of the Middle Ages. These buildings, often associated with chapels or sacred sources, served as places of pilgrimage and prayer for local communities. The fountain, owned by the commune, is part of an architectural complex including the chapel Saint-Adrien, strengthening its spiritual and heritage role.

The calvary, the central element of the fountain, features an octagonal barrel finished with a capital adorned with small heads. His iconography – Christ on the Cross, Virgin with the Child and Saint John – reflects the dominant religious themes of the time. The source, covered by the stone structure, always feeds the site, perpetuating its original function. The data from the Inventory Bretagne (Mérimée database) confirm its location at 18 Saint-Adrien, with a geolocalized location deemed fair (note 5/10).

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