Chapelle Sainte-Anne de l'Île de Batz, Romanesque chapel on Île-de-Batz, France
Chapelle Sainte-Anne de l'Île de Batz is a Romanesque chapel located on a small island off the Breton coast, featuring a Latin cross floor plan with a semicircular apse. The building displays transept arms with small radiating chapels at each eastern end, reflecting typical medieval architectural design.
The Romanesque church was built on the site of the monastery founded by Saint Paul Aurélien, probably between the late 10th and the second half of the 11th century. It remained the island's main church until 1786, when the king requisitioned it as a gunpowder and cannon-carriage store. Soldiers destroyed it during the Revolution, and dunes later buried the ruins under more than three metres of sand until they were cleared in 1860.
Every year on the last Sunday of July, a pardon to Saint Anne, patroness of Brittany, brings a procession to the chapel, where mass is celebrated in the open air. The saint's name also marks the apse, converted into an oratory dedicated to her after the ruins were cleared of sand in 1860.
The chapel is located near Jardin Georges Delaselle at the southern tip of the island and is accessible year-round. The ruins can be viewed from the exterior, and sturdy footwear is recommended since the ground is uneven and the area tends to be windy.
The west facade still shows the base of a bell tower (campanile) that once topped it, and the walls are built of small irregular stones. The church measures 28 metres long, with a 4.5-metre-wide nave and side aisles 1.90 metres wide.
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