Croix de cimetière
MonumentHidden Treasure
Croix de cimetière, located in Lanvallay (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
- Lanvallay, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.4307, -2.0243
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089297
Standing in Lanvallay cemetery, this Gothic cross combines a 16th-century Renaissance shaft with a much older cross head, bearing witness to the Breton faith in all its millennia of continuity.
History
In the heart of the parish cemetery in Lanvallay, a commune near Dinan on the banks of the River Rance, stands one of the most unusual monumental crosses in the Côtes-d'Armor region. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1927, it brings together in a single object two distinct periods of Breton sculpture, offering a dialogue in stone between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance. What makes this cross truly unique is its composite nature: the shaft, carved in the 16th century from carefully worked local limestone, bears the head of a cross whose construction betrays a much earlier origin. This superimposition of forms and styles, far from being incoherent, bears witness to a common practice in rural Brittany, where people were happy to re-use old elements - sometimes taken from ruined monuments - to entrust their memory to new supports. The experience of visiting is one of meditation as much as observation. In the silence of the cemetery, in the shade of the centuries-old yew trees that are typical of Breton parish enclosures, the cross gradually reveals itself: its sculpted reliefs, weathered by centuries of Atlantic weathering, tell as much as they suggest. The attentive visitor will be able to read the gestures of the stonemason, his tools and his hesitations. Lanvallay itself is well worth a visit. Clinging to the cliffs overlooking the Rance valley, the village offers breathtaking views of Dinan and its medieval ramparts. The cemetery cross is part of a wider network of Breton crosses and calvaries that lovers of rural heritage are sure to want to explore in the surrounding area.
Architecture
The cross at Lanvallay is a stone monument made up of two distinct elements that are intimately linked. The shaft, dating from the 16th century, has a slightly tapered quadrangular cross-section, typical of Breton Renaissance work. It rests on a stepped base made of granite, a material that is ubiquitous in Armorique, and whose robustness ensures that the whole structure will withstand the rigours of the climate. The head of the cross, which is older, adopts the classic Latin shape with slightly flared branches. The sides bear sculpted reliefs whose iconography follows the traditional repertoire of Breton funerary crosses: a Christ-like figure on the main side, a devotional figure - the Virgin and Child or the patron saint of the parish - on the reverse. The workmanship, cruder and more expressive than that of the Renaissance shaft, is reminiscent of the Gothic workshops active in the Dionysian region in the late Middle Ages. The whole is around two to three metres high, the usual dimensions for this type of cemetery cross. The greyish patina of the granite and the orange-coloured lichens give the sculpture an intense presence in the cemetery landscape, underlining the quality and age of a monument which, in its apparent modesty, reflects several centuries of Breton popular devotion.
Related Figures
Artisans tailleurs de pierre bretons du XVIe siècle (auteurs du fût Renaissance)Sculpteurs gothiques de l'atelier dionysien (auteurs présumés de la tête de croix médiévale)Arthur de la Borderie, historien breton, figure de la redécouverte du patrimoine rural armoricain au XIXe siècleMembres de la Société d'Émulation des Côtes-du-Nord, acteurs du recensement des croix et calvaires au début du XXe siècle
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Croix de cimetière located?
Croix de cimetière is located in Lanvallay, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Croix de cimetière built?
Croix de cimetière dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Croix de cimetière open to visitors?
Croix de cimetière is currently closed to visitors.