Eglise ou basilique Notre-Dame
ChurchHidden Treasure
Eglise ou basilique Notre-Dame, located in Le Folgoët (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
- Le Folgoët, Département 29, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.5609, -4.3348
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089953
A jewel of Breton Gothic architecture, the Basilica of Notre-Dame du Folgoët stands with its two kersanton towers facing the Finistère moors. Its stone rood screen, a masterpiece of medieval sculpture, is one of the few still standing in France.
History
In the heart of the small Finistère village of Le Folgoët, Notre-Dame Basilica stands out as one of the finest examples of Breton Gothic architecture, and without doubt the most sumptuous church in medieval Brittany. Built on the site of a popular miracle, it combines the robustness of its local granite with a sculptural elegance of rare finesse, attracting thousands of pilgrims and architecture enthusiasts every year. What radically sets Notre-Dame du Folgoët apart from its contemporaries is the extraordinary coherence of its monumental ensemble: two facade towers with pinnacles, a glossy black kersanton rood screen separating the nave from the choir, and a miraculous fountain nestling in the crypt of the building itself. The rood screen, dating from the 15th century, is one of only four or five examples still preserved in situ in France - a rare privilege that gives the basilica an exceptional heritage value. A visit here is as much a sensory experience as an intellectual one. As you pass through the western portal, adorned with fine arcatures and figures of Breton saints, you are struck by the verticality of the nave, the golden half-light filtered through the glass roofs and the silence that the place instinctively commands. The underground fountain, accessible from the apse, adds an almost mysterious dimension: its supposedly miraculous waters spring directly from the floor of the church, blending the sacred and the natural with a very Breton familiarity. The setting surrounding the basilica further enhances its character: a vast granite esplanade, bordered by an ossuary and pilgrimage houses, creates a landscape of almost intact medieval coherence. In fine weather, the two towers are reflected in the pool of the outdoor fountain, offering photographers a breathtaking composition.
Architecture
The Basilica of Notre-Dame du Folgoët is part of the late Breton Gothic style, which differs from the French Radiant Gothic in that the facade is soberly decorated, contrasting with the sculptural profusion of the portals and rood screens. The building is constructed from Léon granite, a rock of exceptional hardness, which explains the remarkable state of conservation of the carvings after six centuries. The plan is that of a three-aisled church with a flat chancel, flanked by radiating chapels, and a sacristy to the north. The western facade, the most spectacular feature of the ensemble, is framed by two square towers with pinnacles and gargoyles, separated by a tier-point portal of refined elegance. The interior reveals its main treasure: the rood screen made of kersanton, a black volcanic stone quarried in Brest harbour. This exceptionally fine material enabled 15th-century sculptors to chisel scrolls, figures of saints and interlacing designs with almost goldsmith's precision. The rood screen separates the nave from the choir, in keeping with a medieval liturgical practice that has been almost universally lost in France since the revolutionary destruction and post-Tridentine reorganisation. Beneath the choir, the crypt houses the Salaün ar Fol fountain, whose water flows directly through the paving - a unique architectural feature that makes the building both a Marian shrine and a sacred spring. The side chapels, added through donations in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, feature star-shaped vaults characteristic of the late Breton Gothic style, while the windows with their geometric infills still preserve a few fragments of ancient stained glass. The north tower, which is slightly higher than the south tower, has a bracketed crown reminiscent of the cathedrals of Quimper and Saint-Pol-de-Léon.
Related Figures
Salaün ar Fol — simple d'esprit légendaire dont le souvenir miraculeux est à l'origine de la fondation de la basilique (XIVe siècle)Jean IV de Bretagne — duc commanditaire des premiers travaux de construction vers 1365Jean V de Bretagne (Jean le Sage) — grand mécène de l'achèvement de la basilique dans le deuxième quart du XVe siècleJeanne de France — épouse de Jean V, inhumée au Folgoët en 1433, faisant du lieu une nécropole ducaleProsper Mérimée — inspecteur des Monuments Historiques ayant contribué au classement de la basilique dès 1840Arthur de la Borderie — historien breton du XIXe siècle qui documenta les légendes et l'architecture du Folgoët
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Eglise ou basilique Notre-Dame located?
Eglise ou basilique Notre-Dame is located in Le Folgoët, Département 29 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Eglise ou basilique Notre-Dame built?
Eglise ou basilique Notre-Dame dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Eglise ou basilique Notre-Dame open to visitors?
Eglise ou basilique Notre-Dame is currently closed to visitors.
