The Grande Troménie, one of the biggest pardons in Brittany. The next one will take place from the 2nd to the 3rd Sunday of July in 2025! This procession, a great moment of expression of the Breton faith, is rooted and continues to flourish in this sacred land of the Celtic soul.
The Troménie route is marked out by 12 stations marked with 12 granite crosses and 42 small huts where one of our old statues of a saint, carved in wood or stone, comes to shelter in each of them. They have left their church or chapel to come and greet the pilgrims and the relics of Saint Ronan.
The Troménie route is spread over a little more than 12 kilometres through the Porzay plain and the Priory mountain. Its circuit is sacred and it is only open every six years. The days before, where the procession is to pass, the wheat is mown, the corn is cut, the sunken paths are cleared of brambles, improvised bridges are thrown over the streams... Everything is done to allow the crowd of pilgrims to walk along the sacred path.
The course will remain open for one week. Throughout this period, day and night, women and men of all ages will be on these paths where the landscapes are so rich and varied. Alone or in groups, they will walk, some in search of their roots, others, like the Dukes of Brittany, will ask for the joy of childbirth, or will find redemption in the effort. And still others will do it in a more sporting spirit, or simply enjoy a moment out of time and the rhythm that life usually imposes on us...
The Troménie is a procession of silence where everyone comes with what they have inside. To understand it, you have to know how to listen to the sound of footsteps...
This time of the Troménie is very important in the life of the inhabitants: it strengthens links, those who had to leave take advantage of it to return to the country. Like a lighthouse, it lights up our lives and marks a new step in our existence: every six years, we look back on the path we have travelled, we see ourselves as children, growing up, becoming adults, growing old...
The Small Troménie is a 6km route that takes place every year between each Grande Troménie on the 2nd Sunday of July. On the day of the procession, one can admire the crosses and banners of Locronan and the surrounding parishes. The inhabitants dress up in their most beautiful traditional Breton costumes, which here are in no way symbols of folklore. On the contrary, these costumes take on a completely different dimension, namely the connection to the ancestors. It is said that if you don't do the procession during your life, you will have to do it after your death, but you will only be able to advance the length of your coffin every year.
Other druidic traditions that continue in the Petite Cité de Caractère :
The tree of May : On the Saturday before the first Sunday in May, the May tree is planted in the square near the well by the young men of Locron who come of age during the year. The tree planted is a beech tree, a symbol for the Celts of the awakening of nature because of the early appearance of its leaves.
The bread of the dead : The first day of November was the beginning of the Celtic year, the great festival of Samonios, the night of communication between the world of the dead and that of the living. In Locronan, the bread of the dead is still distributed on the first Sunday of November