🏛️ Lieu
Patrimoine & Culture
Ile Callot
📍 Carantec, Finistère
· Callot, 29660 Carantec
À propos
Callot isn't for everyone! This piece of land, shaped like a hipoccampus, has two faces: a peninsula at low tide, it becomes an island at high tide.
Access is via a submersible road, accessible at mid-tide. there are 2 parking lots at the entrance to the island, where you can walk or cycle (which must be abandoned at the chapel, as the point is a nature reserve). Please note: operation "Callot sans ma voiture" ("Callot without my car") in July and August.
Callot Island is 2.125 km long and between 30 and 300 m wide. Its granite subsoil is made up of small coves and its vegetation is typical of the Finistère coastline: gorse, ferns, heather, blue thistles and maritime pines. Île Callot is a granite complex that was massively exploited in the 17th century. The hospital, the Morlaix Tobacco Factory, part of the Viaduct and many local buildings were built using Callot granite. The northern tip of the island is a nature reserve protected by the Département du Finistère.
Much of the island is used for farming (cabbages, artichokes, potatoes, shallots), but there are also private dwellings and 9 families live there year-round. There is also a small school (now closed), established in 1926, when the callotins lived self-sufficiently from collecting seaweed, farming and fishing (traps, shrimp). Collecting goémon (kelp) is hard work: once collected, it has to be dried and then crushed to extract the soda used to fertilize the fields.
The chapel: The highest point on the island is the Notre Dame de Kallod chapel, whose history dates back to the 6th century. At the time, the coast was sacked by Danish privateers, who used it to store the spoils of their raids. A Breton chieftain, Rivallon Murmaczon, decided to lead an attack against the pirate leader, called Korsolde. According to legend, he begged the Virgin Mary to help him win the battle, and in return, he promised to build her a shrine on the site of the pirate?s tent. The battle ended in victory for the Breton chieftain, who in 513 laid the foundation stone for the sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which soon became a place of pilgrimage. Later, the area came under attack from the Normans, who decided to plunder the shrine. Legend has it that the ferns surrounding the island rise up like a phalanx of warriors as the plunderers approach. The looters fled, vowing never to return to this land protected by the gods. Prey to frequent storms, the chapel was often rebuilt, which explains why most of the current building dates from the 17th century. Moreover, during the French Revolution, the chapel was seriously damaged as it was used as a military post. It was restored again between 1801 and 1808. The bell tower was listed as a historic monument in 1914. Inside: a 16th-century crucifix, a 17th-century statue of Notre Dame, north and south altarpieces, ex-votos.
Beware of tide times! Ask at the tourist office before setting off on a tour of Callot or www.ville-carantec.com/carantec-tourisme/decouvrir-carantec/horaires-de-passages-vers-lile-callot
Access is via a submersible road, accessible at mid-tide. there are 2 parking lots at the entrance to the island, where you can walk or cycle (which must be abandoned at the chapel, as the point is a nature reserve). Please note: operation "Callot sans ma voiture" ("Callot without my car") in July and August.
Callot Island is 2.125 km long and between 30 and 300 m wide. Its granite subsoil is made up of small coves and its vegetation is typical of the Finistère coastline: gorse, ferns, heather, blue thistles and maritime pines. Île Callot is a granite complex that was massively exploited in the 17th century. The hospital, the Morlaix Tobacco Factory, part of the Viaduct and many local buildings were built using Callot granite. The northern tip of the island is a nature reserve protected by the Département du Finistère.
Much of the island is used for farming (cabbages, artichokes, potatoes, shallots), but there are also private dwellings and 9 families live there year-round. There is also a small school (now closed), established in 1926, when the callotins lived self-sufficiently from collecting seaweed, farming and fishing (traps, shrimp). Collecting goémon (kelp) is hard work: once collected, it has to be dried and then crushed to extract the soda used to fertilize the fields.
The chapel: The highest point on the island is the Notre Dame de Kallod chapel, whose history dates back to the 6th century. At the time, the coast was sacked by Danish privateers, who used it to store the spoils of their raids. A Breton chieftain, Rivallon Murmaczon, decided to lead an attack against the pirate leader, called Korsolde. According to legend, he begged the Virgin Mary to help him win the battle, and in return, he promised to build her a shrine on the site of the pirate?s tent. The battle ended in victory for the Breton chieftain, who in 513 laid the foundation stone for the sanctuary dedicated to the Virgin Mary, which soon became a place of pilgrimage. Later, the area came under attack from the Normans, who decided to plunder the shrine. Legend has it that the ferns surrounding the island rise up like a phalanx of warriors as the plunderers approach. The looters fled, vowing never to return to this land protected by the gods. Prey to frequent storms, the chapel was often rebuilt, which explains why most of the current building dates from the 17th century. Moreover, during the French Revolution, the chapel was seriously damaged as it was used as a military post. It was restored again between 1801 and 1808. The bell tower was listed as a historic monument in 1914. Inside: a 16th-century crucifix, a 17th-century statue of Notre Dame, north and south altarpieces, ex-votos.
Beware of tide times! Ask at the tourist office before setting off on a tour of Callot or www.ville-carantec.com/carantec-tourisme/decouvrir-carantec/horaires-de-passages-vers-lile-callot