Croix du 17e siècle dite Croix de la Sauraie
MonumentHidden Treasure
Croix du 17e siècle dite Croix de la Sauraie, located in Plouha (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
- Plouha, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.6779, -2.9434
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089489
Standing in the heart of the Trégor region in the Côtes-d’Armor, the Croix de la Sauraie is a masterpiece of 17th-century Breton sculpture, carved from kersanton and granite, and has watched over the paths of Plouha for over three hundred years.
History
At the crossroads of the moors and hedgerows that make up the unique landscape of Plouha, a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department perched on the highest cliffs in Brittany, the Croix de la Sauraie rises with the solemn discretion typical of monuments of popular devotion. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1926, this seventeenth-century wayside cross epitomises the richness of Brittany's rural heritage, often ignored in favour of the great cathedrals and castles, but infinitely precious to those who know how to read its silences. What makes the Croix de la Sauraie truly singular is its remarkable sculptural quality for an open-air monument. In Brittany at the time, which was deeply influenced by the Counter-Reformation and the rise of devotional brotherhoods, wayside crosses became veritable picture books for the piety of passers-by. This one, with its fine reliefs, bears witness to a local workshop with real technical mastery, capable of rivalling the production of the great parish calvaries. Visiting the Calvary is like having an intimate encounter with the Breton sacred. Unlike the monumental calvaries of Guimiliau or Saint-Thégonnec, the Croix de la Sauraie invites you to stop in the silence of a sunken path, to observe closely the iconographic details carved into the stone, to feel under your fingers the texture of the granite that the golden lichens have patiently colonised. It's a monument that has to be earned, that rewards the curious walker rather than the hurried tourist. The natural setting reinforces this attachment: Plouha, with its views over the English Channel and the vertiginous cliffs of the Pointe de Plouha, offers an environment of rugged, wild beauty, typical of coastal Armorican lands. The Croix de la Sauraie stands out in this landscape as an ancestral landmark, a human milestone in a dominating natural setting. Photographers and lovers of authentic heritage will find here a rare composition, far from the crowds and clichés.
Architecture
The Croix de la Sauraie has the formal characteristics of 17th-century Breton wayside crosses: a slender shaft resting on a stepped base, crowned by a crosspiece whose ends may be adorned with granite finials or balls. The material used is local granite from the Côtes-d'Armor region, a hard, medium-grained stone that Breton stonemasons know how to work with astonishing precision, and which over time acquires a bluish-grey patina characteristic of Armorican open-air monuments. The main face of the cross traditionally features a Christ on the Cross, whose stylised but expressive anatomical treatment betrays the hand of a sculptor trained in a regional workshop who mastered post-Tridentine iconographic conventions. On the reverse, it is likely that a Virgin and Child or a figure of the patron saint of the parish was sculpted in bas-relief, as is common practice for these two-sided monuments, which are intended to be seen from both directions. The base, often inscribed with a date or dedication in Breton or Latin, was an important element of commemoration and dating. The relative ornamental restraint of the cross, compared with the iconographic excesses of large parish calvaries such as those in Finistère, reflects the means of a modest but sincerely pious rural community, and gives the whole a discreet and lasting elegance.
Related Figures
Commanditaire anonyme du XVIIe siècle — probablement un notable ou une confrérie paroissiale de Plouha ayant financé l'érection de la croixSculpteur local inconnu — tailleur de pierre ou imagier breton actif dans la région des Côtes-d'Armor au XVIIe siècleRecteur de Plouha au XVIIe siècle — figure ecclésiastique ayant vraisemblablement supervisé la bénédiction et l'implantation du monumentInspecteurs des Monuments Historiques des années 1920 — responsables du recensement et de l'inscription de la croix en 1926Émile Mâle (1862-1954) — historien de l'art dont les travaux sur la statuaire religieuse bretonne ont contribué à valoriser ce type de patrimoine
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Croix du 17e siècle dite Croix de la Sauraie located?
Croix du 17e siècle dite Croix de la Sauraie is located in Plouha, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Croix du 17e siècle dite Croix de la Sauraie built?
Croix du 17e siècle dite Croix de la Sauraie dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Croix du 17e siècle dite Croix de la Sauraie open to visitors?
Croix du 17e siècle dite Croix de la Sauraie is currently closed to visitors.