Sainte-Anne-d'Auray: The Greatest Pilgrimage of Brittany
Brittany, France
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Pardon Pilgrim
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200
XP
+100 France
= 300 total
1 day
Sainte-Anne-d'Auray: The Greatest Pilgrimage of Brittany
200 + 100 XP
From the summer of 1623 the farmhand Yvon Nicolazic, who could neither read nor write, said Saint Anne had appeared to him in the field of Bocenno, and in the night of 7 to 8 May 1625 he dug a half-rotted olive-wood statue out of it. The first stone of a chapel went down on 26 July 1625 and it was blessed in July 1628; the present neo-Gothic basilica, by Édouard Deperthes, replaced it in the 1860s and 1870s. The sanctuary is the greatest place of pilgrimage in Brittany, with more than 800,000 visitors a year, and 20,000 to 30,000 pilgrims come to its grand pardon on 26 July, which ranks third among French pilgrimages after Lourdes and Lisieux.
Required Activities
1
of 4
In the basilica, find the bronze statue of Saint Peter at the entrance whose foot pilgrims kiss for a forty-day indulgence, then go into the treasury for the chasuble said to have been given by Anne of Austria in 1638 in thanks for the birth of the future Louis XIV — the sanctuary's own account calls its authenticity doubtful
2
of 4
Climb the Scala Santa, built by the Carmelites in 1662 as the monumental gate to the sanctuary, which pilgrims used to go up on their knees — and notice it no longer leads anywhere, because it was taken down stone by stone in 1870 and re-erected at the far end of the champ de l'Épine
3
of 4
Walk the grounds between four things: the memorial the five Breton dioceses raised between 1922 and 1932 to the 240,000 Bretons killed in the First World War, the fountain of Ker-Anna built by the Carmelites in 1898 on the spot of Nicolazic's first vision, the monumental statue of Saint Anne and Mary, and the espace Jean-Paul-II laid out after the pope's visit in 1996
4
of 4
Find the confessionals in the basilica and look for the scorch marks still on them: on 5 August 1944 German soldiers shot the parish's first rector and four others outside, then came in to burn the church, and the fire failed to take
In the basilica, find the bronze statue of Saint Peter at the entrance whose foot pilgrims kiss for a forty-day indulgence, then go into the treasury for the chasuble said to have been given by Anne of Austria in 1638 in thanks for the birth of the future Louis XIV — the sanctuary's own account calls its authenticity doubtful
Climb the Scala Santa, built by the Carmelites in 1662 as the monumental gate to the sanctuary, which pilgrims used to go up on their knees — and notice it no longer leads anywhere, because it was taken down stone by stone in 1870 and re-erected at the far end of the champ de l'Épine
Walk the grounds between four things: the memorial the five Breton dioceses raised between 1922 and 1932 to the 240,000 Bretons killed in the First World War, the fountain of Ker-Anna built by the Carmelites in 1898 on the spot of Nicolazic's first vision, the monumental statue of Saint Anne and Mary, and the espace Jean-Paul-II laid out after the pope's visit in 1996
Find the confessionals in the basilica and look for the scorch marks still on them: on 5 August 1944 German soldiers shot the parish's first rector and four others outside, then came in to burn the church, and the fire failed to take
Before you go
The grand pardon of Sainte-Anne-d'Auray is on 26 July.
On 26 July the pardon brings twenty to thirty thousand pilgrims into a village of a few thousand people: roads and parking around the sanctuary are closed or full from early morning, so either come for the pardon and walk in from a distance, or pick any other day. The basilica is a working place of worship and closed to sightseeing during services.
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XP Breakdown
Challenge XP
200 XP
France country bonus
+100 XP
Potential total
300 XP
Country bonus earned on completion of your first challenge in France.
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