Rotheneuf
Abbe Foure spent 25 years carving the granite rocks of the Brittany shoreline at Rotheneuf. The carvings (there are over 300 pieces) were mostly inspired by old tales of a local pirate clan, and depict legendary pirate adventurers, fisherman, smugglers, and monsters and allegorical scenes.
We know what they are…
The Wicked
In October 1893, in his fifties, he settled in the small community of Rothéneuf, on the north coast of Brittany, not far from St Malo, where he rented a simple cabin.
The legend says that he, after a stroke which made him deaf-mute, no longer could fulfill his clerical duties and so decided to retire as a priest.
Recent research by the Association of friends however demonstrates that Fouré was relieved from his duties by his superiors and had to leave after they did not appreciate a firm position the priest had taken in a local conflict.
In 1894 Fouré began making sculptures, both creations from stone, displayed on the exterior facade of the cabin and wooden creations, displayed in its courtyard and interior.
Abbé Fouré carved the legend of the Rotheneuf who were a local family of fisherman in the 16th/17th centuries. They became pirates of the Emerald coast. About 300 carved rocks cover a 550 m2 area.
As boat builders they were skilled and innovative and built a fleet called Les Flèches des Eaux (Water Arrows). It was said that no privateer boat in St-Malo could match their speed.
The Rotheneuf maintained their domination until the French Revolution when old feuds and jealousies began to surface. Others saw an opportunity to get rich.
Rotheneuf and some of his men joined the royalists. In the final stage his enemies and revolutionaries butchered all those associated with Rotheneuf as they tried to escape.
According to legend a huge storm broke out during the fight and the waves carried the dead on to the beach of La Haie, just below the rocks. Hideous sea monsters with sharp teeth came out of the sea and and devoured the corpses.
Thus disappeared the last of the Rotheneuf along with the coat of arms of his family.
