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Origin and history

The Notre-Dame-de-la-Joie de Pontivy Basilica, located on Place Bourdonnay-du-Clézio, is a minor Catholic basilica erected in the heart of the medieval city. Its construction began in 1533, as evidenced by the memorial stone of the Western gate, laid on 29 April this year. The parishioners, faced with the age of their former church Saint-Ivy, undertook this ambitious project on the Latin cross, supported financially by Claude de Rohan, bishop of Cornwall, whose weapons always adorn the double door of the tower. The building is dominated by local materials, Pontivy granite and Briover schist, reflecting the geological resources of the region.

In the 17th century, an epidemic of dysentery struck Pontivy in 1695-1696. The inhabitants, invoking the Virgin Mary, vow to offer a perpetual lamp in silver if the plague ceases. On September 11, 1696, the promise was kept: the lamp was lit in the chapel Saint-Ivy, and the church took the name of Notre-Dame-de-Joie. This Marian cult, already rooted since the 16th century, continues today with an annual Pardon, celebrated every second Sunday in September. The building underwent major transformations at the end of the 18th century, thanks to the Dukes of Rohan, then in 1886, with the addition of a stone arrow and the expansion of the coasts to accommodate a growing population.

The western portal, a masterpiece of flamboyant sculpture, is distinguished by its two bays in basket cove, decorated with foliage (vine and oak) and surmounted by flowered accolades. The openworked lozenges of the columns recall the macles of the Rohan coat of arms, an influential family in Brittany. Inside, the altarpiece (1725-1782), Louis XV style, houses a carved group of the Holy Family and a niche dedicated to Saint Ivy, patron saint of the parish. The grey marble altar, marked with the name of Jehovah in Hebrew, is also a historical symbol: it is there that the Federates sign their act of union in 1790, using for the first time the motto "Living free or dying".

Ranked a historic monument in 1925 for its portal and tower, and then in its entirety in 2018, the basilica retains remarkable furniture: 16th–18th century statues (Our Lady of Joy in oak, Saint Catherine), an eagle-lutrin offered by the Rohan, and 19th century stained glass windows signed Laumonnier. The restored Cavaillé-Coll organ (1836), and the perpetual lamp, always suspended, perpetuate the memory of the ancient vows. In 1959, Pope John XXIII raised the church to the rank of minor basilica, dedicating its spiritual and heritage importance.

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