Eglise Notre-Dame
ChurchHidden Treasure
Eglise Notre-Dame, located in Plourin-lès-Morlaix (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
- Plourin-lès-Morlaix, Département 29, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.5359, -3.7897
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090265
Nichée dans le Léon breton, l'église Notre-Dame de Plourin-lès-Morlaix dévoile l'âme du XVIIe siècle finistérien : granite taillé, calvaire enclos et lumière filtrée sur des retables ciselés avec ferveur.
History
In the heart of Léon, a land of granite and devotion that has produced some of Brittany's finest parish enclosures, Notre-Dame church in Plourin-lès-Morlaix stands out as a discreet but eloquent witness to the Baroque faith that set Finistère ablaze in the 17th century. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1932, it is one of a constellation of rural buildings that art historians sometimes refer to as 'the cathedrals of the fields': apparently modest sanctuaries, but with a remarkable artistic and spiritual density. What sets Notre-Dame de Plourin apart is precisely this tension between the austerity of the material - the blue granite of Léon, implacable and magnificent - and the generosity of its interior decoration. The local craftsmen of the 17th century, heirs to a sculptural tradition unparalleled in rural France, decorated this space of kersanton and limestone with an inventiveness that can be seen in the large neighbouring enclosures of Saint-Thégonnec or Guimiliau, just a few miles away. A visit to Notre-Dame de Plourin is a plunge into the devout Brittany of the Counter-Reformation, far from the crowds that invaded the most famous enclosures. Here, the silence is almost untouched, the light streaming in through the soberly decorated windows and revealing surprisingly fresh polychromy on the woodwork and statues. The attentive visitor will be able to pick out every detail, every carved face, every inscription in ancient Breton engraved in the stone. The church is set in a typically Léonard parish enclosure, enclosed by granite walls, where the vegetation and funerary slabs create a melancholy and serene picture. Plourin-lès-Morlaix, a small town leaning over the valleys on the outskirts of Morlaix, also offers high-quality landscaped surroundings, perfect for extending your visit with a stroll through the Finistère bocage.
Architecture
Notre-Dame church in Plourin-lès-Morlaix is part of the great tradition of 17th-century Breton religious architecture, characterised by the almost exclusive use of local granite, a highly resistant material that gives the buildings the bluish-grey hue so characteristic of Léon. The plan is simple cruciform, with a main nave flanked by aisles or a side chapel, a slightly projecting transept and a choir with a flat or polygonal chevet - a configuration typical of Finistère parish rebuilds of this period. The bell tower, a key feature of all Breton parishes, probably takes the form of a lantern or polygonal spire inherited from the Léonards models, giving the church its recognisable silhouette in the hedged landscape. Inside, the decoration reveals the work of craftsmen trained in the schools of the large neighbouring parish enclosures. The altarpieces in polychrome wood or kersantite - a soft black stone quarried near Brest, favoured by Breton sculptors for its fine grain - are the centrepieces of the liturgical ornamentation. The barrel vaults or panelled coffered vaults, the pillars with soberly moulded capitals, the round-headed or slightly ogival bays bear witness to a late Gothic style informed by the first breaths of the Renaissance, a stylistic synthesis specific to 17th-century Brittany that never completely abandoned its medieval roots.
Related Figures
Les recteurs successifs de Plourin (XVIIe siècle), commanditaires et maîtres d'œuvre spirituels de la reconstruction de l'égliseLes membres de la fabrique paroissiale du XVIIe siècle, financeurs laïcs de l'édificeArtisans sculpteurs locaux du Léon (anonymes), héritiers de l'école des enclos paroissiaux finistériensProsper Mérimée, inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, dont les missions en Bretagne ont inspiré la politique de recensement patrimonial ayant abouti à l'inscription de 1932Les érudits bretons du XIXe siècle (dans la lignée de La Borderie et Abgrall), qui ont signalé et documenté les édifices ruraux du Léon
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Eglise Notre-Dame located?
Eglise Notre-Dame is located in Plourin-lès-Morlaix, 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.
