Description
Formerly known as the ‘Pilgrimage to the Seven Saints of Brittany’, the Tro Breiz is a circular pilgrimage around Brittany that took place from the Middle Ages until the end of the 16th century. It is thought to have ceased during the Wars of the League, when the Spanish and English were ravaging Brittany and making the roads unsafe.
This pilgrimage links the towns that were the seats of the seven former bishoprics (Quimper, Saint-Pol-de-Léon, Tréguier, Saint-Brieuc, Saint-Malo, Dol-de-Bretagne and Vannes). It honours the seven founding saints of these bishoprics: Corentin, Pol Aurélien, Tugdual, Brieuc, Malo, Samson and Pattern.
It was revived in 1994 by the association ‘Les Chemins du Tro-Breiz’, based in Guimiliau, following a format that involves a stage between two towns every first week of August.
In 2026, pilgrims and walkers will walk from Vannes to Quimper from Sunday 2 August to Saturday 8 August 2026, covering an average of 25 km per day over seven days. The stopover towns for the week will be Sainte Anne d’Auray, Brandérion, Pont Scorff, Mellac, Bannalec and Saint-Yvi.
On Friday 7 August, the stage will run from Bannalec to Saint-Yvi. Around 1,000 people are expected to take part.
You can register on the website https://trobreiz.bzh/ or by contacting the secretariat of the Les Chemins du Tro Breiz association: email: [email protected], tel: 09 86 37 43 93
Registration is available for:
• 7 days from Vannes to Quimper, from Sunday 2nd to Saturday 8th August
• 3 days from Mellac to Quimper, from Thursday 6th to Saturday 8th August
• You can also register for individual days each morning at the association’s shop at the start line.
2) The stage from Bannalec to Saint-Yvi on Friday 7 August
The last time the Tro Breiz passed through our area was in 2015. That year, the pilgrims stopped off at Moëlan-sur-Mer, Melgven and Saint-Evarzec. This year’s route is very different, as we will be stopping at Mellac, Bannalec and Saint-Yvi
On 7 August 2026, for the stage from Bannalec to Saint-Yvi, the 1,000 pilgrims and walkers will set off from Bannalec at 8.00 am and visit six chapels before reaching the village of Saint-Yvi at around 5.30 pm.
The approximate times of arrival are:
• Trébalay Chapel in Bannalec around 9.15 am
• Moustoir Chapel in Kernevel-Rosporden around 10.15 am
• Trinity Chapel in Melgven around 12.15 pm
• Coat an Poudou Chapel in Melgven around 2.00 pm
• Cadol Chapel in Melgven around 2.45 pm
• Locmaria-an-Hent Chapel in Saint-Yvi around 4.00 pm
Everything will be ready to welcome them, thanks to the volunteers from the associations that look after these six chapels. We hope to ring the bells, as is the custom, when the pilgrims are approaching.
The midday picnic will take place in a meadow lent to us by a farmer from La Trinité.
For safety reasons, the route will avoid using district roads and will instead follow walking trails recommended by the town councils of Bannalec, Rosporden-Kernevel, Melgven and Saint-Yvi, as well as by Concarneau Cornouaille Agglomération.
The Tro Breiz 2026 will therefore ‘follow’ the historic route once taken by medieval pilgrims along the Roman Road from Vannes to Quimper, which passed by the Eglise Blanche in Bannalec, Le Moustoir in Kernevel, La Trinité in Melgven and Locmaria an Hent in Saint-Yvi.
At the end of the day, the pilgrims and walkers will be welcomed near the church by the Bagad Bro Melenig. They will then head to the sports complex where they will spend the night, some on air mattresses in the sports hall and others in tents on the training ground. There’s no doubt that the village shops will be inundated: the bakery, bars, mini-market and even the chemist’s!
Local volunteers from the association Les Chemins du Tro Breiz are currently busy surveying the route to identify and report to the relevant local authorities any obstacles that may be encountered, such as fallen trees, tall grass or brambles, which in places may block narrow paths.
Indeed, it is also Cornouaille that welcomes all the regions of Brittany. We will certainly give them a warm welcome, especially our friends from Léon!
Information provided by Alain Le Métayer
