The Circuit of the Mills

Lanriec Cross is one of several crosses that once guided local farmers, merchants and pilgrims, sanctifying the places where they walked. Now standing on a small, local road, this ancient monument once stood on the old Roman road connecting Douarnenez to Pont-Croix. The roads built in Roman times were still the main routes between villages and towns right up to  the Middle Ages. Specialists have noticed that many medieval crosses were placed along these main routes. In the 1800s, the road was only used by local residents. Restored in 1871, Lanriec Cross marked one of the stops along the trail of the procession that was followed by local parishioners towards Saint-Vendal Chapel, on official Pardon Days. At each cross, locals would wait for the procession to arrive, then they would join it and continue to the chapel.