Chapelle Notre-Dame de Bon Secours de Mangolérian
MonumentHidden Treasure
Chapelle Notre-Dame de Bon Secours de Mangolérian, located in Monterblanc (Département 56), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Monterblanc, Département 56, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.7151, -2.7182
- Mérimée Reference
- PA56000052
Nestling in the Breton bocage, this Gothic chapel dating from 1463 boasts sculpted sablières and a panelled coffered vault of rare delicacy, crowned by a hauntingly poetic blue painted decoration.
History
In the heart of inland Morbihan, the chapel of Notre-Dame de Bon Secours de Mangolérian stands in a typically Breton parish enclosure, a small Gothic jewel preserved from centuries of neglect. Far from the main tourist routes, it is the embodiment of this deep-rooted Brittany where popular faith has produced works of astounding finesse, housed in buildings that are humble in appearance but sumptuous in detail. What makes the chapel truly unique is the coherence of its medieval interior. The sculpted runners that run along the walls - horizontal beams decorated with grotesque figures, interlacing plants and expressive heads - bear witness to the genius of 15th-century Breton carpenters. The coffered, panelled vault, contemporary with the runners, forms with them a case of woodwork of rare homogeneity. In the 19th century, a local craftsman applied a painted decoration on a cobalt blue background, which, far from detracting from the overall effect, gives it a dreamlike atmosphere, somewhere between a starry sky and a manuscript illumination. The parish enclosure surrounding the chapel is another remarkable feature. The 16th-century calvary, a sturdy granite sculpture with a patina from the Atlantic weather, sits alongside the 19th-century chaplain's house. Below, a 17th-century fountain is a reminder of the site's role as a place of pilgrimage and popular devotion: in Brittany, water is always sacred. The visit is just as much for lovers of medieval art and ancient carpentry as it is for enthusiasts of Breton religious ethnology. The light filtered through the sober stained glass windows, the smell of damp stone and old wood, the silence of the enclosure surrounded by oak trees - everything here invites you to meditate and contemplate. A discreet monument of exceptional historical and artistic significance.
Architecture
The building is in the late Breton Gothic style, typical of the second half of the 15th century in inland Morbihan. The plan is that of a chapel with a single nave, sober in its external volumes, with a wall-belfry or a low tower restored in 1565 that punctuate the silhouette without ostentation. The materials used are those of the region: local granite, whose rough grey texture defines the aesthetics of the whole, and which has withstood the Atlantic winds and rains for more than five centuries. The interior is the chapel's most interesting architectural feature. The sculpted runners are the most eloquent testimony to the skills of medieval Breton carpenters: these horizontal beams, placed at the base of the roof, are decorated with a wide variety of figurative and plant motifs - grimacing faces, foliage scrolls, hybrid figures - treated with a freedom of expression typical of Gothic folk art. The coffered panelled vault, with its rigorous geometry, contrasts elegantly with the exuberance of the runners and demonstrates the technical mastery of the builders. In the 19th century, the whole structure was covered with a painted decoration on a blue background, transforming the nave into a celestial space of great chromatic softness. The parish enclosure that surrounds the chapel is a coherent architectural and sculptural whole: the 16th-century granite calvary, robust and weathered, occupies a central position in the enclosure in the Breton tradition. The seventeenth-century fountain below completes this spiritual setting, typical of the Vannes region, where the sacred extends far beyond the walls of the chapel itself.
Related Figures
Les charpentiers anonymes du XVe siècle, auteurs des sablières sculptées et de la voûte lambrissée à caissonsLe maître d'œuvre du clocher restauré en 1565, dont l'identité reste inconnueL'artiste décorateur du XIXe siècle, auteur du décor peint sur fond bleu des lambrisLes seigneurs locaux fondateurs de 1463, probablement issus de la noblesse morbihannaiseLe chapelain du XIXe siècle, figure de la dévotion populaire à Notre-Dame de MangolérianLes maîtres tailleurs de pierre du XVIe siècle, sculpteurs du calvaire de l'enclos
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Chapelle Notre-Dame de Bon Secours de Mangolérian located?
Chapelle Notre-Dame de Bon Secours de Mangolérian is located in Monterblanc, Département 56 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Chapelle Notre-Dame de Bon Secours de Mangolérian built?
Chapelle Notre-Dame de Bon Secours de Mangolérian dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Chapelle Notre-Dame de Bon Secours de Mangolérian open to visitors?
Chapelle Notre-Dame de Bon Secours de Mangolérian is currently closed to visitors.
