Croix de chemin
MonumentHidden Treasure
Croix de chemin, located in Plounévez-Moëdec (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
- Plounévez-Moëdec, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.5580, -3.4177
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089510
Érigée au XVIIe siècle au cœur des landes de Plounévez-Moëdec, cette croix de chemin en granite breton incarne la ferveur populaire du Trégor rural, classée Monument Historique depuis 1933.
History
Standing on the edge of a country lane in the commune of Plounévez-Moëdec, on the borders of Trégor and Goëlo, this 17th-century wayside cross is one of the stone sentinels that once lined the roads and crossroads of inland Brittany. Modest in size but full of meaning, it belongs to a sculpted tradition that has made the Armorican peninsula one of the densest areas of calvaries and wayside crosses in France. What makes this cross unique is its ability to condense several centuries of peasant devotion into a single monumental object. Carved from local granite - a tough, grey rock that Breton sculptors have mastered with astonishing skill - it probably has a slender shaft resting on a quadrangular base, crowned by a Christ on the cross with stylised features characteristic of rural Armorican Baroque. The roughness of the material does not prevent a certain grace in the treatment of the volumes. To visit this cross is to immerse yourself in a typical Côtes-d'Armor landscape: bracken-covered embankments, sunken paths set between oak hedges, and silence punctuated by the wind from the nearby Gurunhuel moors. The monument is best discovered on foot, at the turn of a walk, in the low-angled morning or evening light that reveals the sculpted relief of the granite. Its inclusion on the Monuments Historiques list in 1933 testifies to the early interest shown by the heritage authorities in this type of modest building, representative of a popular religious culture that was gradually disappearing as the Breton countryside was modernised. Today, it is one of the many protected examples of the commune's small-scale heritage.
Architecture
The wayside cross at Plounévez-Moëdec is of the type most commonly found in northern Brittany: a monolithic monument, or one made up of a few elements in local granite, arranged in a strong vertical line, making it an effective visual landmark in the open moorland landscape. The slightly tapering quadrangular shaft rises from a stepped base - probably two or three steps high - which anchors the monument firmly in the ground and sets it apart from the surrounding grassy mass. The crosspiece and upright form a Latin cross, with the ends probably slightly flared, in keeping with a fashion common in 17th-century sculpture in Trecorroise. The Christ on the Cross, carved in low or half-relief in the bluish-grey granite characteristic of the region's quarries, displays the schematic but expressive features typical of Breton rural sculptors' workshops of the period: perizonium tied at the side, slightly bowed head, linear treatment of the drapery. The reverse of the upright may feature a representation of the Virgin Mary or a local patron saint, a common feature of this type of cross. The granite used, quarried from the local Trégor massif, gives the monument its characteristic colour, which varies between pearl grey and beige depending on the amount of sunlight. This material is admirably resistant to the weathering of Brittany, and over the centuries has developed a lichenic patina of gold and green that adds to the aesthetic emotion of the whole. Modest in scale, as befits a rural wayside cross, it probably stands two to three metres high, making this monument a discreet but real landmark in the surrounding bocage.
Related Figures
Évêques de Tréguier du XVIIe siècle, dont l'action pastorale et les visites épiscopales encouragèrent l'érection de croix dans les paroisses rurales du diocèseFabriciens et marguilliers de Plounévez-Moëdec au XVIIe siècle, responsables de la commande et du financement du monument au nom de la paroisseTailleurs de pierre trégorrois anonymes du XVIIe siècle, artisans itinérants qui sculptaient ces croix de leur outil dans le granite des landesCurés de Plounévez-Moëdec, gardiens de la mémoire liturgique attachée à ce monument au fil des sièclesInspecteurs des Monuments Historiques des années 1930, dont l'action permit l'inscription de la croix à l'inventaire protégé le 1er mai 1933
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Croix de chemin located?
Croix de chemin is located in Plounévez-Moëdec, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Croix de chemin built?
Croix de chemin dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Croix de chemin open to visitors?
Croix de chemin is currently closed to visitors.
