SAINT MATTHEW'S POINT
Pointe Saint-Mathieu is a highly emblematic site in Finistère
Simply unavoidable! Pointe Saint-Mathieu is a highly emblematic place in Finistère. On entering the site, you first take a paved path. Opposite you is the Notre-Dame-de-Grâce chapel, restored in 1861. On your left is a vast protected enclosure with high stone walls. On your right, a lighthouse and the ruins of a gigantic abbey. Legend has it that, bringing back the body of the apostle Matthew, merchants from Leon would have been miraculously saved from sinking off this point. This is why, in the 6th century, Tanguy founded the first monastery to house the relics of the saint. Of the abbey, whose creation dates back to 1025, the Romanesque facade, the stone vaults of the choir and the arcades of the nave remain today. The white lighthouse with its red lantern, built in the 19th century, has acquired a good reputation over the centuries. Set on a cliff, it adjoins the former abbey, the semaphore and, nearby, the chapel and the Memorial to the sailors who died at sea for France (it is a cenotaph, i.e. a funerary monument which does not contain a body). The spectacular view and the place, bewitching, will remain in your memory! Please note: the circuit of the abbey, part of the GR34, starts at the foot of the lighthouse. Take the time to soak up the very special atmosphere of this place, imbued with wild spirituality; admire the boats entering and leaving through the Brest Narrows. You are at the end of the world, in a legendary natural site!
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