Circuit rando n°8 - Saint-Renan of yesteryear

Walks
Saint-Renan Saint-Renan
  • Type Pedestrian
  • Distance 11 Km
  • Duration 3h30
  • Difficulty Easy
  • Walks
Saint-Renan market
maison gerard st renan 2
SAINT RENAN COULE VERTE (8)
SAINT RENAN COULE VERTE (5)

About us

Discover the town of Saint-Renan, explained in twelve enamelled lava panels located along the route:
1- Ronan, the Saint-Founder
2-Place du vieux marché
3 - Au temps du Sénéchal
4 - La grande cohue
5 - Saint-Renan capitale de la justice ducale
6 - Notre-Dame de Liesse
7 - Torhefeiz, Casse la Foi
8 - Quand les seigneurs du Curru....
9 - Les échos du grand lavoir
10 - La gare de Saint-Renan
11 - Foires et marchés
12 - Penn Ar Ru

An explanatory brochure is available from the tourist office.

Saint-Renan will hold no secrets for you!

With the circuits published by "Iroise Bretagne", choose quality hiking with official circuits marked and maintained by the Fédération Française de Randonnée du Finistère and Pays d'Iroise Communauté.

Along the way, you'll take in the market square and the shores of the Ty Colo lake, and observe the enamelled lava panels.

Marking:
Follow the brass horses on the ground.

At the Iroise Bretagne Tourist Office, you'll find hard-copy hiking maps and topoguides published by the Fédération Française de Randonnée du Finistère.

See the bottom of the page for all the activities and restaurants in the area.

Documents to download
Itinerary
Step 1/6:

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

Tourist office

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.

Place du vieux marché

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

Church of Notre Dame de Liesse

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 green corridor

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

The great wash-house

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.

Ty Colo lake
Getting there with Google Maps