Rostrenen is the capital of Pays Fisel, a traditional Breton region with its own music, dances and costumes. This gives your trip several possible focal points: the Festival Fisel, the architectural history of the collegiate church and Chapelle Saint Jacques, and a walk from the town centre through the Campostal valley to the Bois de Kerbescont. You can decide whether a cultural event, historic buildings or a route through the countryside will shape your stay.

Music and dance: the Festival Fisel

For almost fifty years, the Festival Fisel has brought people, artists and enthusiasts together in Rostrenen around Breton music, dance and culture. The festival includes fest-noz, concerts, Fisel dance competitions and workshops. If you are planning to travel for the festival, check the specific festival dates for your travel period: they change every year. This lets you plan your trip around a particular date, while the buildings and walking route offer other cultural and landscape highlights.

Collegiate church and chapel: distinct architectural histories

The collegiate church of Notre-Dame du Roncier stands on the site of a chapel that belonged to a wooden castle. Its portal houses twelve polychrome wooden statues of the Apostles. They were carved in 1880 by Paul Chamaillard, a carpenter from Rostrenen. The interior is richly decorated with stained-glass windows, paintings and religious furnishings. Its architectural history therefore encompasses both its earlier connection to the site of a wooden castle and a specifically dated work from the 19th century.

The Chapelle Saint Jacques, also known as Chapelle Saint Antoine, is a stone building dating from the 15th century. Its exterior wall features a bas-relief depicting scenes from the Passion. Two stone statues at the portal come from the collegiate church of Notre-Dame du Roncier; they were beheaded during the Revolution. The figures’ origin creates a specific link between the two places of worship, while the relief presents its own religious subject.

Manor house and mill: further historical landmarks

The Manoir de Campostal dates from the 16th century. The Moulin de Kerbescont is a watermill from the late 15th century with two waterwheels. If you like to place historic buildings in their period, you will find different points of reference here: the mill in the late 15th century, the manor house in the 16th century and the carved statues of the Apostles from 1880. This makes it possible to distinguish the named buildings not only by type but also by their respective dates.

Walking route and landscape

The walking route to the Bois de Kerbescont starts in the centre of Rostrenen and leads from the Campostal valley to the Bois de Kerbescont. Alongside the buildings, this gives you the option of choosing a route with a named starting point and destination as a focus in its own right. If you would like to include a walk in your trip, you can consider it a landscape complement to the cultural and historical themes.

Local granite is also widespread in the landscape around Rostrenen. Because of the distinctive rectangular shapes of its feldspar crystals, it is nicknamed “Dents de cheval” (“horse’s teeth”). This feature adds a geological subject to your perspective on the region, while the collegiate church, chapel, manor house and mill offer different architectural and historical points of interest. Together, they offer a choice of music and dance, architectural history and a walk—depending on which focus is most important to your travel plans.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Saint-Gilles-Les-Bois, Brelidy, Lannion, Lamballe, Pléhérel-Plage, Saint-Agathon, Treduder, La Bouillie

For the overview of the wider region: Côtes-D’armor.