Morbihan: destroyed several times, this chapel has been miraculously rebuilt

The Lotivy chapel, located in the village of Portivy in Saint-Pierre-Quiberon (Morbihan) is located by the sea. It has a moving history. The interior is worth seeing for its beauty.

An ancient place of worship

Saint-Pierre-Quiberon takes its name from an ancient Chapel elevated towards 1730 near the future port of Orange and became a parish church when the parish of Quiberon separated.

To the west of the town is the Portivy districtwhich takes its name from Saint-Dewi (or Divy or Ivy). The latter, born David de Ménevie in Wales, evangelized Brittany in the 6th century where many places of worship are still dedicated to him, often on the site of ancient hermitages. He is credited with many miracles, including that of having lived 100 years.

Saint Dewi would have passed on the site of the current chapel (Lotivy meaning place of Dewi).

He is the Duke of Brittany, Alain IIIwho would have had the first chapel built in 11th century on the site of an oratory destroyed by the Vikings in the previous century.

This was destroyed by the English in 1746, but will be rebuilt quickly. The chapel will undergo further destruction in July 1795 by the soldiers of General Hoche during the Anglo-Chuan landings, then remained ruined for several decades. Note, the construction of a fountain 100m from the chapel around 1700.

A miraculous reconstruction

It’s the November 6, 1844 that the fate of the chapel changes. That day, Marie-Françoise Sonic comes to say a prayer for her sick mother. She kneels in front of a statue of the Virgin in the shelter of the ruins and hears a voice say to her in Breton:

My daughter, tell me to rebuild this chapel in my name.

Abbot Pascal Le Toullec heard this call at the same time and undertook the work with the enthusiastic help of the parishioners. The new chapel, now dedicated to the Virgin, is rectangular shape with a sacristy to the south.

The building is located in the middle of a small garden delimited by a low wall and houses a granite cross. THE September 8, 1845 the first pardon takes place at the departure of the brand new building. This pardon, extremely popular (the mass is said outside) is the occasion of a large gathering and passes through the port of Portivy and the fountain.

The water from it treats colic infants and allows plan for the return of sailors. The women threw a piece of wood there; if it got close to the edge, the return was imminent.

A moving interior

You enter the chapel through a door to the south where the date of construction is engraved.

The interior is typical of seaside chapels with its granite paving, its white walls and its starry vault.

Note the shell-shaped font, the figurative stained glass windows of 1991, the oculus to the west as well as an ancient polychrome statue of Saint-Ivy. But what attracts is obviously the moving statue of the Virgin holding a child nestled in the north wall. This is surrounded by numerous plaques of thanks.

The choir is delimited by a sculpted metal barrier. Rounded and made of exposed stone, it is lit by two stained glass windows.

Behind the altar in the shape of a curved tomb are 3 statues. These represent, from left to right, Sainte-Germaine de Pibrac, Notre-Dame de Lotivy and Sainte-Philomène.

At the entrance to the choir is another statue representing Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus.

Finally, note a magnificent classified ex-voto representing a vessel of the 19th century having participated in the Crimean War and probably named after its creators, Pierre-Désiré.

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