Illifaut: Orchard, Pump Track and Architectural History

Illifaut brings together garden culture, wheeled sports and architectural history. The orchard, the pump track, Saint-Samson Church and Château de la Ville-Thual offer different focal points for your stay. If you would like to organize the places around your interests, fruit varieties, courses and dated buildings provide concrete starting points.

Garden culture in the orchard

The Frère Henri Golletais orchard was established in Illifaut in 1998 to preserve local apple and pear varieties. It therefore focuses on two groups of varieties and their preservation. The grounds include a Maison du laboureur, a shelter for the wine press, a cellar and a wood-fired oven. These features complement the theme of fruit growing with concrete elements of the site. If you are interested in preserving regional varieties and in rural cultural heritage, you can consider the orchard from both perspectives: its apples and pears, as well as the buildings and structures on the grounds.

The pump track at Stade Pierre QUETTIER

Illifaut’s pump track is located at Stade Pierre QUETTIER. This versatile wheeled-sports course has rollers and banked turns. It can be used with mountain bikes, BMX bikes, roller skates, scooters and skateboards. The listed equipment gives you a concrete point of reference when choosing the sporting focus of your stay. If you plan to use the course with a particular type of equipment, check the latest information in advance; equipment availability may change.

Churches and château: history in the buildings

Two historical dates can be distinguished at Saint-Samson Church: the cornerstone was blessed on October 11, 1885, and the church itself was blessed on July 28, 1889. Each transept contains a stained-glass window with six lancets, dating from 1889. This brings together a chronological reference and a specific detail of the church’s architecture.

Château de la Ville-Thual is privately owned and was built by the Desprez family in 1876. It has an L-shaped floor plan and a round corner tower with a conical roof. The plastered walls feature granite surrounds and quoins. In contrast to the dated events associated with Saint-Samson, the focus here is mainly on the floor plan, the shape of the tower and material details. The chapel of Notre-Dame de Bonne-Nouvelle in La Bruyère offers an earlier date: it was rebuilt and blessed on December 6, 1759. This takes the architectural history further back in time, with a distinct connection to rebuilding and blessing.

Water and virtual themed trails

The River Hyvet flows through Illifaut, providing a landscape feature alongside the buildings and the orchard. Water is also one of the themes of the Sentiers Virtuels d'Illifaut. Their themes also include the town center, villages, occupations, trees and plants. The Sentiers were inaugurated at Ville Tual on October 8, 2022. If you would like to include the digital content in your plans, check its current availability in advance. The range of themes offers a different way to discover Illifaut than its specific architectural forms and historical dates: it ranges from the town center and villages to nature and water.

Discover more destinations: Le Moustoir, Langoat, Pabu, Pleubian, Pontrieux, Le Foeil, Camlez, Mûr-De-Bretagne

For the broader travel overview: Côtes-D’armor.