According to popular tradition, it was founded in 1029 by Saint Gurloës, thanks to a donation from Alain Canhiart, Count of Cornouaille; in reality, the foundation probably took place between 1040 and 1050.

However, the bell tower built on top of the rotunda by the Mauristes weakened the latter, and restoration work was unable to prevent its collapse on March 21, 1862, at noon.

Thanks to the digging of moats that join the Ellé and Isole rivers, its territory is an artificial island, protected from the surrounding land.

With the Laïta River serving as a port, and located on the main route between Quimper and Nantes, the religious establishment was at the heart of the development of the town of Quimperlé.

[2] Legend has it that Quimperlé Abbey is the successor to a pre-existing monastery founded in the 6th century by Gonthiern, an exiled British prince, at a place called Anaurot.

[5] The sponsor of this work was undoubtedly Benoît, son of the founder Alain Canhiart, a former Landévennec monk who became abbot of the family foundation.

[8] In 1848, the Historical Monuments Commission was alarmed by the state of the building, and Prosper Mérimée declared that the inhabitants of neighboring houses had damaged the supports and buttresses.

A restoration project was entrusted to Jean-Baptiste Lassus, inspector of civil buildings, who recommended in 1860 that the tower be removed in order to save the edifice.

[9] When this failed, a reinforcement of the supports was undertaken in 1862, but the tower collapsed to the south when the doublets were bent on March 21, 1862, at 12 p.m., killing two people and destroying most of the abbey church.

[9] Although he respected the original plan and the general lines of the elevation, the architect took considerable liberties, despite the existence of surveys and photographs, notably in the archives of historic monuments, by making "an approximate archaeological restitution".

[10] In particular, he raised the floor of the crossing to give direct access to the crypt, thus concealing the monks' choir from the entrance and considerably disrupting the upward perspective that had existed until then.

Around the rotunda, an annular side aisle gives access to the west portal and three chapels to the north, south, and east.

The upper register features large, angular leaves, or bouquets linked by a ring, sometimes with small animal or human heads.

The floor rose in levels along the 50 m of the main axis, leading the eye through the great arches of the crossing to the choir windows, which closed the perspective.

Made of white, black, green, and red veined marble, it is surrounded on all sides by three steps and topped by a tabernacle.

Commissioned in 1541 by Abbot Daniel de Saint-Alouarn, it originally stood opposite the north entrance, i.e. the church's main door.

Around him, several sections feature the Evangelists, the Apostles, the Virgin Mary, the Theological and Cardinal Virtues, the Prophets, and the Doctors of the Church.

[34] In the crypt, beneath the transept crossing, stands a sculpted group of ten stone statues depicting the Burial of Jesus.

[35] In the crypt beneath the monks' choir lie two tombs: that of Saint Gurloës and that of Abbot Henry de Lespervez.

The recumbent tomb depicts the abbot under a canopy, with two dogs at his feet, bearing his coat of arms (Sand color, three golden twin stripes).

In the western arm, through which the entrance is made, a statue of the Virgin and Child, known as Notre-Dame de la Délivrance, dates from the 17th century.

[38] Hanging from the north pillar of today's choir is a large statue of Christ on the cross, wearing a tunic and with his feet resting on a globe.

[42] In the ambulatory, between the south arm and the choir, stands a polychrome painted oak statue of Saint James as a pilgrim, wearing a hat and carrying a purse stamped with the shell.

[43] In the southern arm, along the west wall, a painted and polychrome wooden statue of Saint Marguerite was donated by the bishopric of Quimper in 1998.

[49] A polychrome wooden statue of Saint Roch accompanied by his dog, dressed as a pilgrim and showing his wound, is also preserved in this room.

[50] The same protection decree also listed a polychrome wooden statue from the 17th century, originally depicting the Trinity, with God enthroned and the dove of the Holy Spirit clasping his cope.

[52] In the western arm, a painting depicting the Adoration of the Magi hangs on the north wall, along with scenes from the Nativity and the Flight into Egypt.

Signed by the otherwise unknown painter J. Bizien, it bears the date 1635 and the name of its patron, Jean Auffret, syndic of the town of Quimperlé in 1629.

[54] Between the staircases leading up to the choir, near the burial sculpted group, are the baptismal fonts: a square base of black marble veined with white supports an oval basin in the same material.

The ensemble consists of a paneling frame, several low sideboards, a chasuble, and two corner cupboards covering the room's north, south, and west walls.