Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Lorette
ChurchHidden Treasure
Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Lorette, located in Concarneau (Département 29), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- Church
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Concarneau, Département 29, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 47.8696, -3.8839
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089892
Nestling on its shady placître in the former parish of Lanriec, the church of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette combines Breton sobriety with a Cornish steeple that has watched over Concarneau since the 16th century.
History
Away from the hustle and bustle of the port of Concarneau, the church of Notre-Dame-de-Lorette stands on its placître - the traditional Breton square planted with ancient trees - like a compendium of popular piety in Finistère. This modest rectangular edifice, whose diminishing proportions from the bell tower to the choir betray a long genesis, embodies better than any other monument the continuity of the sacred in the Cornish rural landscape. What immediately sets Notre-Dame-de-Lorette apart is its organic unity: the church, calvary, porch and sacristy form an intimate and coherent whole, built in successive layers over the centuries. There are no sculpted embellishments or exuberant decorations here - the stone speaks for itself, bare and austere, in the manner of the parish enclosures that are the glory of Brittany. The 17th-century calvary, with its groups of two-sided statues standing on consoles, is in itself a strikingly sober work of art. Visitors sensitive to vernacular architecture will appreciate the spatial logic of the building: the three-bay nave flanked by aisles, the progression towards the choir, the western façade dominated by the Cornish-style spire. This steeple, with its slender silhouette typical of Finistère portal steeples, has been the visual landmark of the Lanriec district for centuries. A walk along the placître, beneath the foliage, offers a bucolic and contemplative interlude, far from the crowded tourist circuits of the Ville Close. Photographers and lovers of local history will find here an authentic atmosphere, preserved from the ravages of modernisation, conducive to meditation on the long history of Breton popular faith.
Architecture
Notre-Dame-de-Lorette is a Breton parish church with a single nave extended by side aisles, and a sober ornamental style typical of Cornouaille. The rectangular building consists of a three-bay nave flanked by aisles, extended by a one-bay chancel also with side aisles. A remarkable detail, revealing a pragmatic approach to construction, is the fact that the width of the building decreases from the bell tower towards the chancel, suggesting either successive building campaigns or adaptation to the natural terrain. The almost total absence of ornamental sculpture - apart from the statues on the outside calvary - lends the whole a Breton austerity, where the quality of the masonry takes precedence over decoration. The western bell tower is the most immediately identifiable feature: Cornish in style, it rises from the west façade and is capped by a spire, a common feature in southern Finistère from the 16th century onwards. This bell tower-porch, whose slender silhouette contrasts with those of neighbouring buildings on the Crozon peninsula or in Cap Sizun, serves both as a bell tower and a monumental entrance. A side chapel and a porch are added to the south side, in a chronological order that has not been precisely established, to break up the monotony of the main volume and bear witness to successive extensions. The sacristy built in 1862 against the west side completes the ensemble without disturbing the overall harmony. The placître, planted with a variety of trees and enclosed in the manner of parish enclosures, forms a transitional space between the secular world and the sanctuary, typical of Breton liturgical and funeral practices.
Related Figures
Les recteurs successifs de la paroisse de Lanriec (XVIe-XXe siècle), artisans de l'entretien et des agrandissements de l'édificeLes marins et pêcheurs de Concarneau, dédicants du culte à Notre-Dame de Lorette, protectrice des gens de merLe sculpteur anonyme du calvaire du XVIIe siècle, auteur des groupes de statues bifacesLes fabriciens de la paroisse de Lanriec, commanditaires de la sacristie en 1862Les inspecteurs des Monuments Historiques ayant instruit le dossier d'inscription en 1968
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Lorette located?
Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Lorette is located in Concarneau, Département 29 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Lorette built?
Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Lorette dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Lorette open to visitors?
Eglise Notre-Dame-de-Lorette is currently closed to visitors.
