On the coastal road that stretches from the seaside town of Saint-Malo towards Concal, known mainly for the quality of its oysters, is an interesting little town called Rotheneuf. In Rotheneuf you can visit the home of the local, the famous explorer Jacques Cartier, and if you walk towards the coast you can see Les Rochers Sculptes, a strange-looking sculpture site, carved into the rock by a local priest in the late 19th century.
Who was Father Pora?
Adolphe Julien Fouéré (1839-1910), or Father Fouéré for short, served as a priest in several communities in the Brittany region. In October 1893, in his fifties, following a stroke that paralyzed his body, caused him to lose his hearing and impaired his ability to speak, Fouéré abandoned his priesthood and decided to live as a monk. Another, more luscious version raises doubts about whether Fouéré actually led a life of celibacy, and claims that he was actually dismissed from his position by his employers due to his involvement in a local conflict. In any case, Fouéré chose to settle on the cliffs of Rothenf, where he rented a simple hut and began carving hundreds of grotesque shapes and figures in the rock, both strange and fascinating.
For 25 years, Forre, assisted by an elderly friend, carved some 300 sculptures on the granite rocks of the coastline, inspired by old tales of a local pirate tribe, full of descriptions of the adventures of fishermen, monsters, and religious and allegorical scenes. The scenes mainly depict the lives of the Rothenf family, a family of pirates and smugglers whose exploits are intertwined with the fascinating story of Brittany.
A colorful pirate family
A family with a host of colorful characters who lived in the region between the 15th and 18th centuries and, according to local legends, were endowed with supernatural vision that stemmed from the properties of the local drinking water. Interestingly, these properties did not help them, as all of them, down to the last one, were wiped out in a fierce storm, devoured by a cruel sea serpent, and killed in the violent events of French RevolutionAt the end of the 19th century, Fora turned his house into a kind of museum that attracted many visitors. About 400 different postcards document Fora, where he lived and at the site of the sculpture. Postcards that he used to sell with his signature, and he distributed the proceeds to the poor of the area. Fora's father stopped sculpting in rock in 1907, but continued to carve wood until his death in 1910.
After Father Fora's death, his belongings were auctioned off. Some of the furniture was purchased by collectors and is currently on display in several art galleries. The wooden sculptures did not attract much interest, and most of them were purchased as a single piece by the new owners of the cabin, who wanted to display them on site. However, over the years, the cabin that served as a museum caught fire, and the gallery of wooden sculptures was completely consumed by flames.
The tragic event probably occurred in 1944 during World War II, when the northern coast of France They were evacuated by German soldiers, who were trying to prevent the Allied invasion. The amazing sculptures carved into the rock can still be admired today, and you can read about them in a booklet that can be purchased at the entrance to the site. The booklet also shows other sculptures that have not survived the vicissitudes of time, a fate that may be expected for the many existing sculptures, which are exposed to the elements and the touch of visitors’ hands.