Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Pitié
MonumentHidden Treasure
Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Pitié, located in Mellionnec (Département 22), 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
- Mellionnec, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.1935, -3.2616
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089326
Nestling in the heart of the Kreiz-Breizh region, this 16th-century chapel boasts sloping buttresses and a wooden barrel vault with strikingly expressive carved engoulants.
History
At the bend in a sunken lane in Mellionnec, a remote commune in the Côtes-d'Armor region, the chapel of Notre-Dame de la Pitié stands out like a well-kept secret in central Brittany. Modest in size, it is nonetheless a precious witness to the fervour and skill of 16th-century Breton craftsmen, at a time when every parish in the Kreiz-Breizh region vied with each other in their zeal to honour the Virgin. What immediately distinguishes the building is the almost military rigour of its external silhouette: four powerful angled buttresses anchor the church at the corners, while two additional buttresses support the chevet wall. This framework of cut stone, typical of the rural chapels of central Brittany, gives the building a timeless solidity while harmoniously giving rhythm to its façades. But it's inside that the visit reveals its real surprise. The wooden barrel vault, with its moulded groins adorned with engoulants - grimacing heads with wide-open mouths that seem to "devour" the joists - is one of the most remarkable and expressive elements of local religious architecture. Few chapels of this scale have preserved such sculpted decoration in such good condition. The natural setting further enhances the character of this place of contemplation. Mellionnec, in the heart of unspoilt hedged farmland, offers a rare tranquillity. Around the chapel, the absence of contemporary noise allows us to perceive something of the atmosphere that reigned here during the pardons, the large devotional gatherings that once brought together the populations of the surrounding communes.
Architecture
The chapel of Notre-Dame de la Pitié in Mellionnec is a typical example of rural religious architecture in the Kreiz-Breizh region in the 16th century, characterised by a restrained style and a solid construction well suited to the harsh climate of central Brittany. The single-nave building has a simple, elongated rectangular plan, typical of devotional chapels in this region. Its western façade would have been pierced by a pointed arch or basket-handle portal, according to local custom at the time, possibly decorated with modest mouldings. The most immediately visible feature from the outside is the buttress system: four massive, angled buttresses reinforce the corners of the building, reflecting a design concerned with durability in the face of the thrust of the interior vault and the constraints of the terrain. The flat chevet, a simpler and more economical solution than the semi-circular apse, is supported by two additional buttresses, giving this eastern wall a rigorous, almost fortified appearance. The interior holds the most precious surprise: a wooden barrel vault whose moulded groins are adorned with engoulants, sculptures in the shape of heads - human or bestial - whose open mouths seem to grasp the beams. These figures, both decorative and symbolic, perhaps evoke the struggle between Good and Evil, or simply the virtuosity of Breton carpenters during the Renaissance. Their remarkable expressiveness, highlighted in the heritage notices, makes them one of the highlights of any visit to the chapel. The walls, probably made of local granite, combine strength and chromatic homogeneity with the surrounding landscape.
Related Figures
Commanditaires anonymes du XVIe siècle — notables ou confrérie paroissiale de Mellionnec ayant financé la constructionMaîtres charpentiers bretons — artisans inconnus auteurs des engoulants sculptés de la voûte en berceauRecteurs de la paroisse de Mellionnec — clercs ayant assuré la continuité du culte et l'entretien de la chapelle à travers les sièclesInspecteurs des Monuments Historiques (1973) — responsables de l'inscription au titre des MH le 17 septembre 1973
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Pitié located?
Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Pitié is located in Mellionnec, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Pitié built?
Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Pitié dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Pitié open to visitors?
Chapelle Notre-Dame de la Pitié is currently closed to visitors.