Saint-Cado, Village on an island in Belz, Brittany, France
Saint-Cado is a small village on a tiny island in the Étel River, in the commune of Belz in Morbihan, Brittany. A stone bridge connects it to the shore, and the island holds narrow lanes, old stone houses, a Romanesque chapel, a carved calvaire, and a fountain near the waterline.
The Romanesque chapel is believed to have been founded around 1089 by monks from Quimperlé. A new doorway was added in the 1500s, and the small house on the Nichtarguer rock was built around 1890 as a shelter for an oyster park keeper.
The chapel on the island is dedicated to Saint Cado, a Welsh monk said to have settled here in the 6th century. Every September, a pardon takes place around the calvaire, a local religious procession where people gather to pray and mark the occasion together.
The village is reached on foot via the stone bridge, which can be partly surrounded by water depending on the tide. Visiting at low tide gives the clearest view of the fountain and the rocky shore around the island.
The small fountain beside the chapel was only built in 2004, even though it looks like it has always been there. Its basin is sometimes fully covered by the tide, making it one of the few fountains in the region that disappears and reappears with the sea.
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