The Quinipily’s Venus

That strange 2,20 meters high statue stands on a pedestal above a fountain. The magnificent trough in front of the monument is made of monolithic granite, as the statue.

The Venus and the trough were on the Castennec hill in Bieuzy until the 17^th century. Known as "ar groareg houarn", the iron lady, or "groah Haart", the old caretaker, this statue was used as a pagan worship by the peasants. Vannes’ bishop, Charles de Rosmadec began to worry about those worships and asked the Lord of Quinipily, Claude of Lannion, to throw it into the Blavet in 1661.

The locals took it out from the canal and returned to their ancestral rites three years after.

It was mutilated and thrown again into the river in 1670. After Claude Lannion’s death in 1695, his son Pierre, governor of Vannes at that time, took it back and put it in his Quinipily’s castle.

Since then, “the iron lady” watches from the top of its pedestal and is at the heart of heated discussions between archaeologists : some saw there an Isis adored by the Roman legions, a Cybèle, a Gallic goddess. Others even argued that the old statue had been broken and another one cut...

 A restful and quiet place leading to some serenity, the Quinipily’s gardens were created to highlight the Venus, statue listed historic monument since 1948.

These are romantic terrace gardens where there are many heather-type vegetals : rhododendrons, camellias, hydrangeas, heathers, rosebushes and many other perennials.

Open daily from 11am to 5pm from November to April, and from 10am to 7pm from May to October. Open for the Neurodon in May and for the parks and gardens days in June. Closed from mid-December to mid-January.

Adults : 3€

Free Under 12 years old

Groups (adults, school..) : depending on the number

Contact : 02 97 39 04 94