Circuit rando n°8 - Saint-Renan of yesteryear

Departure is from the tourist office, Place du vieux marché.

On the Place du Vieux Marché, the Maison Cardinal is a real eye-catcher, with its handsome half-timbering and cap-shaped gable, a rare example of 15th-century Léon architecture.

Its facade features a frieze that only the most discerning walkers will see! Look up to discover sculpted faces representing, we're told, the seven deadly sins. Food for the imagination!

And every Saturday, the town of Saint-Renan hosts Finistère's biggest market.

A small chapel named Notre-Dame once stood on the site of this church. It was only in 1728 that this name was supplemented by the addition of "de Liesse". This is probably a reference to the basilica of the same name in Champagne, where kings and many popular pilgrims venerated the Black Madonna.
The chapel's steeple collapsed in 1768. It was then decided to rebuild and enlarge it. The new edifice, built entirely of local granite, was completed in 1772. Twenty years later, under the French Revolution, the chapel was erected as a parish church, as being larger and more beautiful than the old Saint-Ronan church in the lower town. Notre-Dame de Liesse was subsequently enlarged in 1869, 1891 and restored in 1905.

Patrimoine Iroise

Public landscaped area in the heart of the historic center, between two of Saint Renan's oldest streets, rue Coat an ed and rue Casse-la-foi.

©Ville de Saint-Renan

The Grand Lavoir is made up of two springs and 7 basins: 4 washing basins and 3 rinsing basins fed by gutters from the springs.

Patrimoine Iroise

In 1957, the Saint Renan marshes revealed a large deposit of tin ore, exploited by the Compagnie minière de Saint Renan.
After fifteen years of exploitation, the deposit was exhausted. Today, seven lakes remain. In the heart of the town, the shores of the "Ty Colo" and "la Comiren" lakes have been landscaped for the enjoyment of walkers.
The smooth waters of the Ty Colo lake were the first in Brittany to host an astonishing water sport: wakeboarding, on a wakeboard towed by a cable.