Saint-Gonlay

Saint-Gonlay is a commune in the department of Ille-et-Vilaine in Brittany. The Meu river goes through the town. There are 280 inhabitants in Saint-Gonlay and the territory stretches over 926 hectares. It is at 20 km from Rennes and is surrounded by Montfort-sur-Meu, Bédée, La Nouaye, Breteil, Pleumeleuc, Talensac, Iffendic.

Understand

In the North, there is the Meu river and the Comper river, in the East is the brook of Boutavent and in the South, the forest of Brocéliande. The town is part of the county of Montfort-sur-Meu and depends of Rennes. It is when the parish of Iffendic separated in two parts that the town of Saint-Gonlay was founded.
Its birth is probably due to the building of a church in the XIIIth century by two priests of Montfort-sur-Meu. A priory has also been built and it depends of Saint-Jacques de Montfort abbey.

Get in

By plane

Rennes-Saint Jacques airport.

By train

Railway station of Montfort sur Meu, direct line from Rennes.

By bus

No buses.

By car

From Rennes: RN12 (Rennes / Saint brieuc) exit Montfort-Bédée-Pleumeleuc. RN24 (Rennes / Vannes-Lorient) exit Talensac-Montfort.

See

• Noble house of Le Vilou. The house of the Vilou is dated XVIIIth century. It was considered at the time as a notable house. Indeed, back then, a subprefect of Montfort-sur-Meu lived there. 
• Saint-Guillaume church. Surrounded by its cemetery, it is dated from the XVIth and XVIIth century. On the front wall two characters face each other: a confessor and somebody confessing. 

Do

• Discovery circuit of Saint-Gonlay. Leave for a discovery of the architectural and historical heritage of Saint-Gonlay. The pedestrian circuit has many photos on its way, which enables you to discover the built heritage while walking (circuit of 2/3 km). Leaflets are sold at the ecomuseum and at the Tourist Office of the district of Montfort. 
• Schoolhouse in the Gallo district. The former public school of Saint-Gonlay is used as a setting while speaking about school and childhood in the district of Montfort during the XXth century (memory of former schoolchildren, restoration of a class from the 50s, school games.). 
• The path of schoolchildren. This circuit goes up and down through the town of Saint-Gonlay and its villages, in the countryside. It follows the Meu river and offers many panoramas at different places on the circuit. 

Go next

The towns located next to Saint-Gonlay are Iffendic, Bédée, La Nouaye, Breteil and Talensac, but you can also find Montfort-sur-Meu and Pleumeleuc nearby.