Côtes-d'Armor
The Côtes-d'Armor ( , ; ; , ), formerly known as Côtes-du-Nord until 1990 (, ), is a department in the north of Brittany, in northwestern France. In 2019, it had a population of 600,582.department of
Brittany
Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...
in northwestern
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
Population
Inhabitants of Le Vieux-Marché are called ''vieux-marchois'' in French.
History
Since the 6th century, a sanctuary dedicated to the
Seven Sleepers of Ephesus
The Seven Sleepers (; ), also known in Christendom as Seven Sleepers of Ephesus, and in Islam as Aṣḥāb al-Kahf (اصحاب الکهف, ''aṣḥāb al-kahf'', lit. Companions of the Cave), is a late antique Christian legend, and a Qur ...
existed in the town (possibly brought here by oriental monks). Between 1703 and 1704, a chapel was built on top of it in the form of a Latin cross oriented towards the east. It has two side chapels and the one on the south side is built over the dolmen of Stiffell which forms the crypt.
During the time of the
Algerian War
The Algerian War (also known as the Algerian Revolution or the Algerian War of Independence) ''; '' (and sometimes in Algeria as the ''War of 1 November'') was an armed conflict between France and the Algerian National Liberation Front (Algeri ...
,
Louis Massignon
Louis Massignon (25 July 1883 – 31 October 1962) was a French Catholic scholar of Islam and a pioneer of Catholic-Muslim mutual understanding. He was an influential figure in the twentieth century with regard to the Catholic Church's relatio ...
, a catholic scholar of Islam, established a Christian-Muslim pilgrimage to this place as the Seven Sleepers are venerated both in Christianity and Islam. He had discovered the place through his daughter,
Geneviève Massignon
Geneviève Massignon (Paris, 27 April 1921 – 6 June 1966) was a French linguist, ethnologist, musicologist and historian who studied Acadian speech, as well as dialects and linguistic communities in Brittany, in the west of France and in Corsica. ...
and it began to hold an important place in his spirituality. Starting in 1954, he set up the pilgrimages modelled after typical Breton
pardons
A pardon is a government decision to allow a person to be relieved of some or all of the legal consequences resulting from a criminal conviction. A pardon may be granted before or after conviction for the crime, depending on the laws of the j ...
which since 1955 have been also attended by Muslims.
After the end of French Algeria, the bell of the Catholic cathedral in Algiers was hung in the church of Vieux-Marché in 1965.
See also
*
Communes of the Côtes-d'Armor department
The following is a list of the 348 communes of the Côtes-d'Armor department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2025):