Chapelle Saint-Pierre avec son calvaire et son placître
MonumentHidden Treasure
Chapelle Saint-Pierre avec son calvaire et son placître, located in Plogonnec (Département 29), 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
- Plogonnec, Département 29, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.0790, -4.2246
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090179
Nestling at the bottom of a Breton valley, this Renaissance Latin cross chapel captivates visitors with its triple-domed bell tower and fully sculpted sablières - a timeless granite setting.
History
At the bend in a sunken lane winding through the hedged farmland of Finistère, 2.5 kilometres from the market town of Plogonnec, the chapel of Saint-Pierre stands out in an almost supernatural way. Erected at the bottom of a discreet valley, far from the beaten tourist track, it belongs to that rare category of monuments that you discover like a well-kept secret - and never forget again. What strikes you straight away is the coherence and quality of the whole. Built entirely of magnificent ashlar, the chapel has a Latin cross plan that is remarkably regular for a rural church. Its bell tower with lantern crowned by three successive domes bears witness to an uncommon architectural ambition, elegantly blending Italian Renaissance influences with Breton building traditions. The open turret, linked to the platform by an aerial walkway, and the granite cannons at the corners of the platform add a defensive and mysterious touch to the whole. The interior does not disappoint the promise of the exterior. The runners running the length of the nave are entirely sculpted, forming a sort of medieval granite comic strip with grotesque figures, pious scenes and plant motifs. At the transept crossing, the exposed hooves of the roof frame house representations of the four Evangelists - an iconographic programme of a quality that would do credit to many a cathedral. The eighteenth-century granite high altar, with its cherubs in blossom and graceful female figures in oriental-style drapery, introduces an almost unexpected note of gentleness into this severe stone setting. Visiting Saint-Pierre de Plogonnec also means immersing yourself in an unspoilt landscape. The placître - a typically Breton enclosed square - and the calvary that accompanies it are part of the great tradition of Finistère parish enclosures, even if the whole retains an intimate scale far removed from the pomp of Guimiliau or Saint-Thégonnec. Not far away, the former chaplain's house, with its doorway bearing the date 1570, is a reminder that this place was long home to a devout and hard-working community.
Architecture
The chapel of Saint-Pierre de Plogonnec has a very regular Latin cross plan, built entirely of carefully matched granite ashlar - a notable luxury for a rural building, which testifies to the importance attached to this shrine by its patrons. The overall style is that of the Breton Renaissance, a hybrid architectural movement that grafted the decorative motifs of the French and Italian Renaissance onto structures and volumes inherited from the late Gothic period. The most striking feature of the exterior is the lantern-shaped bell tower with three stacked domes, a type known as "Renaissance" in the classification of Breton bell towers. Meticulously decorated, it is flanked by a cylindrical turret linked to the platform by a walkway, at the corners of which granite cannons act as monumental gargoyles. The main door, surmounted by a triangular pediment and framed by two fluted Ionic columns with leafy drums resting on square bases, is an anthology of the classicist repertoire used in Brittany at the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries. Inside, the main attraction lies in the sculpted sablières, which are fully decorated along their entire length - a feature that specialists have described as quite unique in the region. At the transept crossing, the exposed hooves of the roof frame bear the figures of the four Evangelists in a narrative and expressive style typical of the Breton craftsmen of the 17th century. The 18th-century granite high altar complements the interior furnishings with a moderate Baroque composition: friezes of oves punctuated with human heads, cherubs bearing bouquets and two finely draped female figures swinging wooden censers.
Related Figures
Les maîtres d'œuvre anonymes de 1588, architectes et tailleurs de pierre locaux à l'origine du chantier principalLe chapelain de 1570, dont la demeure à porte à accolade subsiste à proximité immédiate de la chapelleLes maîtres sculpteurs bretons du XVIIe siècle, auteurs des sablières et des sabots de charpente représentant les ÉvangélistesLes fabriciens et notables de Plogonnec des années 1674, commanditaires de la campagne de la façade nord et de la sacristieLes artisans de 1759-1765, responsables de la restauration de la tourelle et du dôme du clocherLes inspecteurs des Monuments Historiques du XXe siècle, artisans de la reconnaissance et du classement de 1963
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Chapelle Saint-Pierre avec son calvaire et son placître located?
Chapelle Saint-Pierre avec son calvaire et son placître is located in Plogonnec, Département 29 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Chapelle Saint-Pierre avec son calvaire et son placître built?
Chapelle Saint-Pierre avec son calvaire et son placître dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Chapelle Saint-Pierre avec son calvaire et son placître open to visitors?
Chapelle Saint-Pierre avec son calvaire et son placître is currently closed to visitors.
