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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The chapel of the Madeleine de Malestroit, located in Morbihan, was originally a leprosy founded in the 12th century, becoming priory of the Abbey of Marmoutier in 1129. Its Romanesque architecture, marked by a fortified gable and a bell tower-wall among the oldest in the department, was enlarged in the 15th century by a south nave. The site played a major historical role in 1343, when the representatives of Philip VI of Valois and Edward III of England signed the truce of Malestroit, a key episode of the Hundred Years' War.

From the seventeenth century onwards, the chapel gradually deteriorated. In 1795 it was the scene of a violent confrontation between Republican soldiers and Chouans, immortalized by a painting by Alexander Bloch. Disused in 1870, she suffered a fire in 1880 that accelerated her ruin. His 15th and 17th century stained glass windows, representing Saint Mary Madeleine, were saved in extremis by the mayor, then sold to Émile Zola in 1889 before being acquired by William Randolph Hearst in 1903. Today they decorate the chapel of St David's School, after a donation in 1958.

Ranked a historic monument in 1934, the chapel preserves remarkable elements such as its Roman gable with joint buttresses, its round apse partially demolished, and medieval sculptures exposed in the arase nave. The bell tower, symbol of its fortified past, collapsed in January 2026 under the effect of the weather. The ruins, owned by the commune, testify both to its religious, military and artistic heritage, linked to the Breton conflicts and to the hazards of heritage preservation.

Architecturally, the site combines defensive features (broken arch door, mâchicoulis) and religious (ogival windows, 17th or 18th century coat of arms). Its history reflects the transformations of Malestroit, from medieval leprosy to revolutionary struggles, to its diplomatic role. The stained glass windows, scattered in the United States, illustrate the mobility of works of art and the stakes of their transnational conservation.

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