Plouguernével can be explored through several distinct features: engineering history at the Coat Natous flight of locks, ecclesiastical and institutional history, and the landscapes and paths of the Vallée du Doré. This offers a range of options for planning your visit, depending on your interests: would you like to learn about a distinctive lock complex, explore historic buildings and their furnishings, or experience the river landscape? The details below give each of these themes a distinct profile.
The double lock at Coat Natous
The Coat Natous flight of locks is the only double lock on the Nantes-Brest Canal. It is a double-chamber lock: two chambers arranged one after the other are connected by two straight flights of sixteen steps each. The site can therefore be understood both by its unique status on the canal and by its specific design. While the Petit Séminaire and Saint-Pierre Church offer insights primarily into ecclesiastical and local history, the focus here is on the engineering design.
The seminary and Saint-Pierre Church
The Petit Séminaire de Plouguernével was founded in 1669 by Maurice Picot de Coëthual, the parish priest. After being sold during the Revolution, its function changed over the following decades, and in 1932 it became a departmental hospice. Its history therefore encompasses both its founding and a later institutional change. Here, the changing use of the building over time is important, while Saint-Pierre Church can be understood through its construction date and furnishings.
Saint-Pierre Church dates largely from the 18th century. Its furnishings include a wooden pulpit from the same century, decorated with sculptures of the four Evangelists. A tomb in the church bears the coat of arms of Maurice Picot de Coëthual, founder of the Petit Séminaire. The shared name creates a connection between the seminary's founding history and a detail inside Saint-Pierre.
Pont-Croix and the Vallée du Doré
Pont-Croix is a granite arch bridge in the Vallée du Doré. Visible notches on the bridge are evidence of former wooden sluice gates that served as a weir. Downstream from Pont-Croix, the Vallée du Doré forms a granite chaos. The valley can thus be understood through different features: the notches point to earlier water management, while the granite chaos describes the character of the landscape.
A footpath in the Vallée du Doré follows the river to an old Roman bridge that spans the watercourse. The route gives the landscape a tangible connection to a path, with a historic crossing as its destination. As trail conditions may vary, it is worth checking the path's condition before setting out.
Another route
A former railway line that passes through Plouguernével has been converted into a greenway. Its origins differ from those of the footpath through the valley: the river shapes the route there, while here it is the conversion of the former railway line. This contrast helps distinguish two different routes—one following the river to the Roman bridge and another running along a former railway line.
Discover more destinations: Saint-Brieuc, Languenan, Plémet, Lanloup, Corseul, Saint-Quay-Perros, Ploeuc-Sur-Lié, Guenroc
For the broader travel guide: Côtes-D’armor.
