<< Text Pages >> Fontaine Ste-Onenn - Holy Well or Sacred Spring in France in Bretagne:Morbihan (56)
Submitted by Sunny100 on Tuesday, 18 January 2011 Page Views: 4469
Springs and Holy WellsSite Name: Fontaine Ste-Onenn Alternative Name: St Onenna's Well, St Nenna's Well, St Hwenna's WellCountry: France Département: Bretagne:Morbihan (56) Type: Holy Well or Sacred Spring
Nearest Town: Ploermel Nearest Village: Trehorenteuc
Latitude: 48.008300N Longitude: 2.2876W
Condition:
5 | Perfect |
4 | Almost Perfect |
3 | Reasonable but with some damage |
2 | Ruined but still recognisable as an ancient site |
1 | Pretty much destroyed, possibly visible as crop marks |
0 | No data. |
-1 | Completely destroyed |
5 | Superb |
4 | Good |
3 | Ordinary |
2 | Not Good |
1 | Awful |
0 | No data. |
5 | Can be driven to, probably with disabled access |
4 | Short walk on a footpath |
3 | Requiring a bit more of a walk |
2 | A long walk |
1 | In the middle of nowhere, a nightmare to find |
0 | No data. |
5 | co-ordinates taken by GPS or official recorded co-ordinates |
4 | co-ordinates scaled from a detailed map |
3 | co-ordinates scaled from a bad map |
2 | co-ordinates of the nearest village |
1 | co-ordinates of the nearest town |
0 | no data |
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Fontaine Ste-Onenn (St Onenna's Well) is an interesting little holy well that has been hidden away and remains something of a secretive place. It is said to be located just north of the village of Trehorenteuc in the Canton of Mauron in a corner of a farmer's field on what is private land. The forest of Broceliande lies just east of the village. [Please go to the Tourist information office in the village - they will put you in touch with a guide]. It is a pilgrimage site that is dedicated to the 7th century St Onenna. Please note the above latitude/longitude is for the village church.
Legend tells us that St Onenna was the sister of King Judicael of Brittany, but at the age of 10 she ran away from the luxury of her father's palace in Paimpont. She came to what is now Trehorenteuc where she lived with a poor family and began to care for local people who were living in very bad conditions and suffering ill health. Every day she placed flowers at the altar in the church, and she apparently tended a flock of geese. Legend also says she managed to thwart a gang of ruffians who were attempting to ransack the village.
The well with its narrow entrance is of pre-Christian origins, and is situated under a small raised mound. Steps go down into a pool of water which is some 10 foot below ground level. The well chamber is quadrilateral is shape and the sides are supported by stonework; there is a niche in the wall that may have held a statue. The water once cured lung problems, menstral problems and was also good for poor eyesight. Two pilgrimages to the well occur every year, generally on or around the saint's feastday 30th April.
The church back in the village used to be dedicated to St Onenna, but in the early 1900s it was re-dedicated to The Holy Grael. A window inside depicts the legend of the saint who died at the young age of 28 in 650 CE. The nearby Forest of Broceliande is associated with King Arthur and Merlin. Legend has it that the Holy Grael itself was buried somewhere in the area. But just where ?
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