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Origin and history

The Memorial of the Bretons who died for France during the First World War was erected in the 20th century in the sanctuary of Sainte-Anne-d'Auray, Morbihan. This memorial is part of a major religious site in Brittany, dominated by the Gothic Basilica built between 1866 and 1872. It consists of a rotunda of 12 meters in diameter, supported by eight apsidioles, two of which serve as access and five houses altars dedicated to the Breton dioceses. The last apse, dedicated to the soldiers and sailors who died for the homeland, houses two symbolic graves: that of the sailors who disappeared at sea and that of the fallen soldiers, framed by the statues of Saint Michel and Saint Yves.

At the entrance of the crypt, two allegorical bas-reliefs represent Victory and Peace. This memorial, classified as a historical monument, is part of the sanctuary's protected complex, which also includes the Basilica, the Scala Sancta, the former Carmelite convent and various liturgical elements. Its sober and symbolic architecture contrasts with the Baroque fascist of the basilica, while strengthening the sacred and memorial dimension of the place. The site, managed by the Diocesan Association of Vannes, attracts hundreds of thousands of visitors every year, mixing religious pilgrimage and duty of memory.

The sanctuary of Sainte-Anne-d'Auray, whose pilgrimage dates back to miraculous apparitions reported by Yvon Nicolazic between 1623 and 1625, is inseparable from Breton history. The discovery of a statue of Saint Anne, interpreted as a divine sign, gave rise to an intense cult, amplified by the Carmelites in the seventeenth century. The current basilica, built after the destruction of the original chapel during the Revolution, embodies this spiritual heritage. The memorial, added much later, found a natural place, linking Marian devotion to the commemoration of the sacrifices of the Great War, in a dialogue between faith and national history.

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