Eglise Saint-Pierre du Vieux-Bourg
ChurchHidden Treasure
Eglise Saint-Pierre du Vieux-Bourg, located in Plouguenast (Département 22), 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
- Plouguenast, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.2768, -2.6817
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089484
Nestling in the old village of Plouguenast, Saint-Pierre church is a striking combination of 16th-century Breton granite and discreet 18th-century alterations, set in unspoilt greenery in the Côtes-d'Armor region.
History
In the heart of the interior of the Côtes-d'Armor, off the beaten tourist track, the church of Saint-Pierre du Vieux-Bourg in Plouguenast epitomises the deepest Brittany that travellers in a hurry never come across. Standing on a discreet promontory among the hedged farmland of the Lié valley, it is one of those parish jewels that only the curious can unearth. What is immediately striking is the coherence of the building, despite the fact that it has been in existence for two centuries. The bluish-grey granite quarried locally gives the whole a remarkable mineral unity. The 16th-century campaigns left behind the most archaic volumes - thick walls, sober windows, a squat bell tower - while the 18th century refined certain interior details, testifying to a continuous and dynamic parish life right up to the upheavals of the Revolution. The visitor experience is that of a monument authentically rooted in its terroir. There are no crowds or organised tours: you push open the heavy wooden door to discover a quiet space where the light filtered through the stained glass windows paints the paving with coloured shadows. The parish furnishings - statues of Breton saints, sculpted fonts, baptismal fonts - tell the story of the popular devotion of successive generations. The adjoining cemetery, enclosed by a granite wall, is home to stelae with partially legible Breton inscriptions, precious evidence of a linguistic and cultural identity that the church has helped to preserve for centuries. The vegetation - centuries-old yew, short grass, silence broken by the wind - reinforces the sense of timelessness that is typical of Breton parish enclosures.
Architecture
The church of Saint-Pierre du Vieux-Bourg is typical of Breton parish churches built in the late Middle Ages and early modern period in the regional late Gothic style. The plan is that of a church with a single nave or a nave with narrow aisles, ending in a flat or canted chevet - a common layout in the Côtes-d'Armor countryside. The bell tower, a key feature of the silhouette, is built of dressed granite, with corner buttresses emphasising the modest verticality of the whole. The walls, made of local granite rubble bonded with lime, bear witness to the sober, robust construction typical of local workshops in the 16th century. The bays, the oldest with flamboyant infill or bracketed arches, are framed in cut granite. Eighteenth-century alterations can be seen in some of the enlarged openings with straight lintels, in the smoother treatment of some of the frames, and perhaps in the interior roof structure, which shows that it was rebuilt after the Middle Ages. Inside, the volumes are those of an intimate devotional space, on a human scale. Sculpted furnishings - niches with statues, kersanton or granite fonts, fragments of engraved funerary slabs - enhance the archaeological interpretation of the building. The whole expresses this particular Breton synthesis where the rigour of granite rubs shoulders with discreet but expressive ornamentation, the fruit of a high-quality local craft tradition.
Related Figures
Recteurs successifs de la paroisse de Plouguenast (XVIe-XIXe siècle), artisans de la vie spirituelle et des campagnes de constructionMaîtres maçons et tailleurs de granit locaux (ateliers bretons anonymes, XVIe siècle)Fabriciens et notables ruraux du XVIIIe siècle, donateurs des aménagements intérieursInspecteurs des Monuments Historiques de Bretagne ayant instruit le dossier de protection en 1926Communautés paroissiales de Plouguenast, gardiennes de l'édifice à travers les siècles
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Eglise Saint-Pierre du Vieux-Bourg located?
Eglise Saint-Pierre du Vieux-Bourg is located in Plouguenast, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Eglise Saint-Pierre du Vieux-Bourg built?
Eglise Saint-Pierre du Vieux-Bourg dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Eglise Saint-Pierre du Vieux-Bourg open to visitors?
Eglise Saint-Pierre du Vieux-Bourg is currently closed to visitors.