Grand-Auverné: Slate heritage, chapels and paths along the Don

Grand-Auverné offers two concrete points of interest: its slate heritage and a 12 km-long hiking trail along the Don. Other cultural topics include the chapels of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours in Auvais and Sainte-Anne in La Bauche, as well as the history of the large Bonne Croix. For trip planning, it is worth distinguishing between the paths: the 12 km-long hiking trail in Grand-Auverné runs along the banks of the Don; the Sentier de la Lande du Don is in the wider regional area near Moisdon-la-Rivière. This lets you choose your focus between material history, religious buildings, pilgrimage history and landscape.

Slate as part of the cultural heritage

Among Grand-Auverné’s notable cultural heritage sites are former slate quarries. Their slate slabs adorn the boundaries of many properties. In this way, the former extraction of slate is connected with its use along property boundaries. For travellers interested in regional materials and building culture, this offers a concrete way to explore the cultural heritage. Unlike at an individual chapel, no building takes centre stage here: the material itself leads from the former slate quarry to its use along many boundaries. This gives the history of slate its own emphasis alongside the historic chapels and the Bonne Croix.

Chapels and religious history

The chapel of Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours in Auvais dates from the 19th century; the chapel of Sainte-Anne in La Bauche dates from 1820. These provide two different time references side by side: a century and a specific year. If you explore sacred buildings through their history, this difference is immediately apparent. The place names Auvais and La Bauche help connect each chapel with its date. Together, they offer two distinct historical reference points for trip planning.

The large Bonne Croix offers another historical perspective. It was built around 1775. It is associated with accounts of miraculous healings and the return of a son who had gone to war. The large Bonne Croix became an important pilgrimage site for the entire region. While the chapels are defined by their construction dates, the accounts and regional significance as a pilgrimage site take centre stage here. This makes the Bonne Croix a distinct topic for travellers interested in local history and religious tradition.

Hiking paths along the Don

The 12 km-long hiking trail in Grand-Auverné runs along the banks of the Don. Its length gives you a concrete reference point for trip planning; at the same time, its route along the river is a defining feature of the trail. In the wider regional area, the Sentier de la Lande du Don near Moisdon-la-Rivière also runs along the banks of the Don, there at the foot of extensive slate-bearing plateaus. Rocks and wooded areas alternate there. The two paths offer different experiences: the hiking trail in Grand-Auverné is defined by its stated length of 12 km; on the regional Sentier, plateaus, rocks and forest shape the landscape. If you include hiking in your trip planning, you can orient yourself either by a specific route length or by the varied landscape features.

Discover more travel destinations: Le Croisic, Anetz, Les Sorinières, Mouzeil, Montoir-de-Bretagne, Saint-Mars-De-Coutais, Pontchâteau, Pornichet

View the main travel overview: Loire-Atlantique.