The Pays du Roi Morvan (the land of King Morvan) covers the north-west of the Morbihan and includes the cantons of Gourin, Guémené-sur-Scorff and Le Faouët. This culturally rich area owes its name to the IXc Breton king who faced the troops of Louis le Débonnaire, ally of Charlemagne.

The green hills and quiet, wooded valleys carved out by the area’s three rivers, Ellé, Scorff and Aër, offer a beautifully contrasting landscape. The area also abounds in monuments, churches and chapels, and much religious art.

The Pays du Roi Morvan has a fine musical heritage and is famous for some of the wilder styles of Breton dancing.

Le Faouët
Le Faouët is the administrative centre for the area. The town centre is charming, its narrow streets perfect for whiling away an afternoon. The XVIc market hall, built in oak and pine, supported by granite columns with an octagonal belfry, is one of the biggest halles in Brittany and, many argue, one of the most beautiful. There is a market here on the first and third Wednesdays of the month, and nine larger fairs a year. Place Boulanger nearby has some lovely old houses, especially number 11.

A local heroine is Marion du Faouët, an XVIIIc bandit whose exploits have been made into films, books and plays.

Housed in a former Ursuline convent dating from the XVIIc, the Musée du Faouët has a permanent collection of 160 paintings and temporary exhibitions throughout the year. Most of the paintings are from the Faouët school (late XIXc and early XXc), depicting local rural life and the chapels of Saint-Fiacre and Sainte-Barbe.

Not far away, in Kercadoret, is a fascinating museum on bees and ants, L’abeille vivante et la Cité des fourmis, is housed in a converted barn. You can watch bees at work in their hives, see the queen bee surrounded by her courtiers and the ants working in teams to construct and repair their city.
On the way out you can sample some of their honey products in the museum shop.

Turn right from the road to Priziac and you will find the Parc Aquanature Le Stérou, a 70-hectare nature park. Spend the day exploring its six valleys, ride in a horse-drawn carriage, visit the park in a four-wheel drive, learn to fish, ride and see wild deer in their natural habitat. Inside are aquariums and exhibitions on the local flora and fauna.

Built between 1480 and 1492, the little Chapelle Saint-Fiacre, south of Le Faouët, has a richly carved stone exterior. A few hundred yards from the chapel, hidden away in the forest, is the fountain of Saint-Fiacre, with waters said to possess magical powers.

The most impressive thing about the Chapelle Sainte-Barbe is its location. Just north of Le Faouët, the chapel is perched on the side of a ravine in a shaded valley of chestnuts. It was built between 1489 and 1512 in a flamboyant XVc style with Renaissance stained-glass windows and wooden panels sculpted with angels and flowers. A narrow path leads to the fountain of Sainte-Barbe where young women eager to find a husband would throw pins to get their wishes granted.

Gourin
Gourin is frontier territory, between the Vannetais and Cornouaille regions, the meeting point of two very different cultures, which give it its distinctive proud and secretive character.

A centre for music and dance, the Championnat de Bretagne music competition takes place here every September, with the best traditional musicians and singers vying with each other to take the top honours.

Gourin is also renowned for having the best crêpes (pancakes) in the area. The local lycée offers training courses for future crêpiers, and each year there is a fête dedicated to the cooking and eating of crêpes during the last weekend of July.

There are also outdoor attractions such as a lake, ramblers’ circuits and woods. In the town centre, there is a statue of Liberty given to the town by Air France in memory of the 11,500 people from the Gourin area who emigrated to the USA between 1880 and 1970.

Constructed on the exact site of a previous smaller church, the new parish church was built around 1500, dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. The pillars from the original construction were conserved in the newer building, surrounded by nine side chapels.

The Château de Tronjoly was built on the ruins of a former manor house, created and added to between 1426 and 1669. Said to have been a hiding-place during the Revolution, the château passed through the hands of several aristocratic families before finally being gifted to the town of Gourin after the death of its last owner.

The town has since financed a great deal of restoration work and added an outdoor theatre which attracts visitors throughout the summer months.

The Chapelle de Moustérien at Kerbiquet was once the local centre of the Knights Templars. It is also known as Notre-Dame de la Consolation.



Guémené-sur-Scorff
This historic town is widely known in Brittany for two things: its beautiful buildings and its andouille (chitterling sausage).

Closely linked with the region’s turbulent past, Guémené-sur-Scorff was the seat of the Rohan family, powerful local aristocrats until the Revolution. The château, rebuilt in 1860, now houses the mairie.

Once the home of a well known aristocrat who was guillotined during the Revolution, the Château de Pontcallec is now an orphanage and closed to the public. However, the grounds and woods are open to all and well worth a visit.

The gardens and lake are particularly pretty but be aware that you should be correctly dressed as the orphanage is run by nuns. The forest is large and interesting and you should see wild boar and deer in their natural habitat.

Moving back in time, the archeological dig at Kerven Teignouse is open to the public during August where you can see volunteers at work on the dig started after the discovery in 1995 of a Vc BC stele. Aerial surveys revealed a large Iron Age earthwork.

Further research revealed numerous pieces of pottery, furniture and household utensils, indicating that the site had been an occupied settlement.