Eglise Notre-Dame
ChurchHidden Treasure
Eglise Notre-Dame, located in Lampaul-Guimiliau (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
- Lampaul-Guimiliau, Département 29, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.4930, -4.0406
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090020
At the heart of Lampaul-Guimiliau's famous parish enclosure, Notre-Dame church features a Renaissance rood beam of rare magnificence and some of the most striking sculpted decoration in the whole of Brittany.
History
Nestling within one of the most accomplished parish enclosures in Finistère, the church of Notre-Dame de Lampaul-Guimiliau stands out as an exceptional testimony to Breton fervour in the 16th and 17th centuries. Built at a time when the rural parishes of the Léon region were competing with each other in terms of artistic ambition, it concentrates in one place a density of sculptural and painted masterpieces that leaves even the most experienced visitor speechless. What sets Notre-Dame apart above all is the abundance of interior furnishings. The rood beam, the only survivor of the original framework, displays its Christ on the Cross and polychrome figures with a dramatic intensity characteristic of Breton Baroque. At its feet, the eye wanders through an interior adorned with altarpieces, baptismal fonts and statues of saints that seem to animate the dark kersantite stone pillars. The experience of visiting the church is remarkably dense. Every nook and cranny of the building reveals a new surprise: here a poignantly expressive Entombment, there painted panels recounting scenes from the Passion with almost cinematic narrative precision. The interior space, bathed in subdued light filtering through the stained glass windows, creates an atmosphere of contemplation conducive to attentive observation of the details. The outside setting adds to the magic of the place. The church is part of the parish enclosure, with its triumphal arch, its ossuary and its calvary, forming a coherent monumental whole in which the grey stone of Brittany converses with the changing Finistère sky. The truncated bell tower, struck by lightning in the 19th century, lends the church's silhouette a melancholy singularity that is not without its charm.
Architecture
Notre-Dame church has an elongated floor plan typical of 16th-century Breton parish churches, with a central nave flanked by aisles, a discreet transept and a canted choir - a distinctive feature of the Beaumanoir style that gives it a sober, geometric elegance. The whole structure is built of local granite, the hard grey stone from Finistère that gives Breton buildings their austere, timeless hue, punctuated here and there by elements of kersantite, the black stone from the Crozon peninsula so prized by sculptors in the region for its fine grain and ease of cutting. On the outside, the truncated bell tower is an immediate eye-catcher: its spire was struck by lightning in 1809, but it still retains a fine arrangement of pilasters and cornices that testify to the original ambition of its builders. The triumphal arch of the enclosure, the niches housing statues of saints and the sculpted calvary, together with the church, form a monumental ensemble of remarkable coherence. The interior is stunningly lavish in its ornamentation. The 16th-century rood beam is the centrepiece of the decoration: a polychrome wooden structure supporting Christ on the Cross surrounded by the Virgin Mary and Saint John, it symbolically marks the separation between the nave for the faithful and the sanctuary reserved for the clergy. The painted and sculpted altarpieces, the Renaissance baptismal font, the Entombment and the numerous statues of saints in kersantite or polychrome wood make up an ensemble of furniture of exceptional density and artistic quality, most of which is listed as a Historic Monument.
Related Figures
Les maîtres de l'atelier Beaumanoir — sculpteurs et architectes bretons du XVIIe siècle ayant conçu le chœur à pans coupésLes fabriciens de la paroisse de Lampaul-Guimiliau — commanditaires des campagnes de construction de 1553, 1609, 1622 et 1627Les maîtres charpentiers et sculpteurs sur bois anonymes — auteurs de la poutre de gloire et de la charpente originelle du XVIe siècleLes sculpteurs en kersantite du Léon — artisans des statues et décors sculptés de l'enclos paroissialL'architecte diocésain du Finistère (1875) — responsable de la réfection de la charpente et du remplacement des lambris peints
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Eglise Notre-Dame located?
Eglise Notre-Dame is located in Lampaul-Guimiliau, Département 29 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Eglise Notre-Dame built?
Eglise Notre-Dame dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Eglise Notre-Dame open to visitors?
Eglise Notre-Dame is currently closed to visitors.
