Abbaye de Beauport

Who this place suits

With family

9/10

As a couple

10/10

With friends

8/10

Solo

9/10

With a dog

9/10

Reduced mobility

6/10

These scores are calculated from what the page records: official rating, facilities, difficulty, duration and location. They are a guide, not a substitute for contacting the venue, especially about accessibility.

About

The abbey of Beauport stands on the bay of Paimpol, in the former municipality of Kérity. Founded around 1202 by Alain de Goëlo, also known as Alain d’Avaugour, and confirmed by a charter of 1203, it was home for almost six centuries to Premonstratensian canons regular, who came from the abbey of La Lucerne in Normandy. It is the only Premonstratensian abbey in Brittany. They were not Cistercian monks, as is sometimes said: only the layout of the buildings is inspired by the great Cistercian abbeys. Beauport, “beautiful harbour” in medieval Latin, was a maritime abbey. The canons built dykes, quays and basins, reclaimed land from the sea and set up a fishery; stone arrived by boat, and so did pilgrims on their way to Santiago de Compostela. Beauport is still one of the seven Breton starting points of that route. Rich and influential from the 13th to the 15th century, the abbey then declined under the commendam system; by the Revolution it had only 19 religious. Built mostly in the 13th and early 14th centuries, the Gothic buildings are arranged around a square cloister about 29 metres on each side. The abbey church, some fifty metres long, lost its roof when its bell tower collapsed after the abbey was abandoned: you visit it open to the sky, with grass at the foot of the pointed arches, like the refectory. The chapter house keeps its rib vaults, and the 13th-century Salle au Duc remains something of a mystery: its purpose is still unknown. Sold as national property in 1797, the abbey became in turn a farm, a saltpetre works, a town hall, a school, housing and even a cider works, until around 1990. Prosper Mérimée noticed it around 1835, and it was on the first list of historic monuments in 1862. In the 19th century, its owners, Mélanie Morand and Napoléon Poninsky, preserved it in a Romantic spirit: they are buried in the former church. No original furnishings remain; people come for the architecture, the light and the atmosphere of the ruins. In 1992, the Conservatoire du littoral bought the abbey and its estate, which were restored over some twenty years. Around the monument, nearly 120 hectares of woods, meadows, marshes, reed beds, salt meadows and shores are freely accessible all year round, crossed by the GR34. The conservation orchard keeps about sixty apple varieties, most of them unique to Beauport, which still produce a cider and an apple juice. Four plane trees and two ginkgos in the walled garden have held the Ensemble arboré remarquable label since 2018.

What you will see

• The only Premonstratensian abbey in Brittany, founded around 1202 on the bay of Paimpol.
• A roofless Gothic church about fifty metres long, with grass growing at the foot of the arches.
• A square cloister about 29 metres on each side, a rib-vaulted chapter house and a refectory open to the sky.
• The 13th-century Salle au Duc, whose original purpose remains a mystery.
• A historic monument since 1862, on the very first list, after a visit by Prosper Mérimée.
• Nearly 120 hectares of natural estate owned by the Conservatoire du littoral, free all year round.

Practical information

Address

Rue de Beauport, 22500 Paimpol

Public transport

Local line 4 from Paimpol (Monday to Saturday, stop in front of the abbey); shuttle F in summer; BreizhGo 201, Kérity Église stop (500 m); Paimpol station 35 to 40 minutes on foot

Parking

Free car park 130 m from reception, free motorhome car park 340 m away (small). No overnight stays

Pets

Allowed on a lead on the estate and in the monument, except during Noël à Beauport

Accessibility

Partial. The guests’ hall, parlour and cloister are step-free; the church, chapter house, sacristy and refectory have steps. Two disabled parking spaces 130 m from reception, adapted toilets, seat sticks, hearing loop, audio description, easy-read booklet

Best time

Spring and autumn (orchards, apples, light, calm). Summer for events, Christmas for the night visit

Frequently asked questions

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