Guéhenno is a commune in the center of Morbihan, in the Brittany region, 32 km north of Vannes and the coast (Gulf of Morbihan).
The locality was formed in the twelfth century the union of the parishes of Guegon north and Bignan in the south and would have housed a convent.
Subsequently, Guéhenno whose activity is essentially agricultural becomes a small prosperous town with typical houses, granite.
In 1799, a terrible battle took place on the mountain dominating the town. A detachment of republican soldiers is surprised and attacked by Chouans. The fighting killed more than 50 people and Republican prisoners were shot dead.
In the nineteenth century, Guéhenno has up to 1,400 inhabitants. It remains only 800 today but the strong locality of a rich heritage which earned him the label of "Municipality of Rural Heritage of Brittany", and a green landscape is a stage of interest for whom stays in Brittany.
A discovery of the built heritage of Guéhenno can begin with the church of St. Peter and St. John the Baptist (sixteenth and nineteenth). In 1859, the original building of the sixteenth century affected by a fire during the Revolution was replaced by a more modern church. However, it has been preserved and integrated in the new construction the sacristy and its beautiful door "flamboyant". Inside, one can also admire a baptismal pool of the sixteenth century, a stone bas-relief that adorned the old porch and represents scenes from the Passion and a polychrome statue of the Virgin and Child dated Eighteenth century. To note again, a font of the nineteenth century and on one of the outer walls, this inscription: "this portal was made in the year 1547". To visit the church outside the offices, call +33 2 97 42 29 89 if necessary.
We will continue this discovery with the exceptional calvary of the town, located in the parish enclosure (which also includes the church, the cemetery and an ossuary), considered the largest and most beautiful of Morbihan, comparable to the monuments of the same order in Finistere. The Calvary of Guéhenno was erected around 1550 during the reign of Henry II, while historians consider the golden age of Brittany. At that time, are exploited in the municipality of quarries of granite, and it is possible that the Calvary was financed by the local nobility to testify to its ease... In 1794 during the Terror, the enclosure and the ordeal are looted and broken. People hide the pieces in the ossuary, their granaries, and even in the surrounding countryside. Beginning in 1853, at the instigation of Father Jacquot, the Calvary was reconstituted and the priest himself sculpted certain missing elements to reconstitute a harmonious whole. He even adds new elements, statues and bas-reliefs, and reforms an ossuary. Calvary consists of two rectangular pedestals decorated with bas-reliefs, illustrating the scenes of the Passion of Christ. Figures of prophets are added in the nineteenth century before the Apostles Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The Virgin Mary, the thieves and Christ Himself, spread out on Calvary, looking towards heaven and the risen Christ. A column of the Flagellation carries the Instruments of the Passion. She is surmounted by a rooster. Nearby is a magnificent 15th century altarpiece leaning against the ossuary. Carved in a single piece of granite 2 meters, it traces the Passion of Christ. Carved in local granite stones, the Calvary was restored again in 2002.
This exceptional monument is visible all year long but free guided tours are offered from mid-June to mid-September. Information on +33 2 97 60 49 06.
Every three years, after August 15, a sound and light show highlights the story of Calvary. Next appointment in 2018.
Also as part of a discovery of local heritage, an interpretive circuit lined with explanatory panels was designed to walk the streets of the village and observe remarkable elements (wash houses, crosses, fountains, carved elements on homes), all in granite, which make the wealth of the commune. Information on +33 2 97 60 49 06.
At the village level, still, on the heights of the Mount, near the Calvary, do not forget the chapel Saint-Michel, dating from the fifteenth century, from which the visitor can enjoy a superb panorama. Inside, a statue of St. Michael slaying the dragon and a sculpted tympanum of the fifteenth century are preserved. Visit all year.
Away from the village, on the road to Guégon, the manor of Lemay worth the detour. This is a former hunting lodge dating from 1570 that was never completed. This example of Renaissance architecture in Brittany has magnificent sculptures on skylights, lintels and chimneys. It has an amazing dovecote of more than 850 birdhouses, a well and a bread oven... In the orchard of the manor, are exhibited the works made at the symposium of monumental sculpture on granite held in 1996.
The interior of the manor is closed to the public but its park is open all year.
On the environmental level, we will finally appreciate, on the locality, green landscapes lined with elements of small heritage and the charm of the banks of the courses of Sedon and Lay that cross its territory.
For hikes including built and environmental heritage, on foot, mountain bike or horseback, documentation and information +33 2 97 60 49 06.
For fishing enthusiasts, contact +33 2 97 44 54 55 for the most adapted sites and regulations.
