Croix du 18e siècle
MonumentHidden Treasure
Croix du 18e siècle, located in Jugon-les-Lacs (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
- Jugon-les-Lacs, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.4104, -2.3215
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089206
A discreet stone sentinel at the heart of the old cemetery in Jugon-les-Lacs, this 18th-century cross combines Breton sobriety and Baroque fervour. It has been listed as a Historic Monument since 1926.
History
In the heart of the Côtes-d'Armor region, in the small medieval town of Jugon-les-Lacs, a cemetery cross has silently watched over the dead since the 18th century. Erected from grey granite, the king material of inland Brittany, it alone embodies popular devotion and the skills of Armorican stonemasons, capable of transforming the roughness of the local material into a formally elegant object of piety. What makes this cross so special is precisely its place in an intact Breton funerary landscape, where the sacred and the everyday have existed side by side for centuries. Breton cemetery crosses are not simply religious markers: they are true community monuments, gathering points for processions, symbolic landmarks that order the space of eternal rest. The cross at Jugon-les-Lacs, protected since 1926, bears witness to the early recognition by heritage authorities of the value of these modest but irreplaceable works. To visit this cross is to immerse yourself in authentic Brittany, far from the beaten track. The cemetery at Jugon-les-Lacs retains an atmosphere of contemplation and greenery, conducive to meditation and attentive observation of the sculpted details. The golden and grey lichens that gently colonise the granite add a living patina to the whole, reminding us that the stone itself is inhabited by time. The setting of Jugon-les-Lacs, a market town surrounded by lakes and hedged farmland, makes an ideal stop-off point for those exploring Brittany's rural heritage. Just a stone's throw from the artificial lake created in the 12th century and the ruins of the medieval town wall, the cross is part of a coherent historical ensemble that deserves to be explored in its entirety.
Architecture
The cemetery cross in Jugon-les-Lacs is a monolithic structure made of grey granite, a material that is emblematic of Breton architecture and sculpture. It features a cylindrical or slightly fluted shaft resting on a stepped moulded base, in a design typical of 18th-century Breton crosses. The cross, with its soberly profiled arms, supports a Christ in relief worked in the round, whose anatomical treatment reflects the influence of counter-Reformation iconographic models disseminated in the Armorican countryside. The general style belongs to what regional art historians call "temperate Breton Baroque": the forms remain legible and robust, without the ornamental excesses of the Southern Baroque, but move away from late Gothic dryness to introduce curves, drapery and a new expressiveness in the figures. The bases and intermediate capitals may feature leafy motifs or schematised cherubs' heads, which are common in Breton lapidary from this period. The total height of the cross, shaft and crosspiece combined, is probably between two and three metres, the usual proportion for this type of work, which was intended to be visible from the entire parish cemetery. The surface of the granite, now enriched with lichen and natural patinas, shows that it was carefully cut from the outset, with precise edges and a bush-hammered finish that gives the material its characteristic texture.
Related Figures
Curé de la paroisse de Jugon au XVIIIe siècle — commanditaire probable de la croix pour la dotation du cimetière paroissialTailleur de pierre breton anonyme — artisan local ou régional ayant sculpté la croix, héritier des traditions lapidaires des ateliers côtes-d'armorainsFabriciens de la paroisse de Jugon — membres laïcs chargés de l'entretien des biens d'Église, garants de la conservation du monumentInspecteur des Monuments Historiques (1926) — fonctionnaire ayant instruit et signé le dossier d'inscription de la croix le 19 mars 1926
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Croix du 18e siècle located?
Croix du 18e siècle is located in Jugon-les-Lacs, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Croix du 18e siècle built?
Croix du 18e siècle dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Croix du 18e siècle open to visitors?
Croix du 18e siècle is currently closed to visitors.