Fontaine de Notre-Dame de la Porte
MonumentHidden Treasure
Fontaine de Notre-Dame de la Porte, located in Quintin (Département 22), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- autre
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Quintin, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.4033, -2.9092
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089557
Nestling beneath a Breton chapel, this 15th-century Gothic fountain reveals traces of medieval painting and a sculpted tympanum with creeping arcatures - a stone sanctuary hidden away from time.
History
Quintin, a town of art and history in central Côtes-d'Armor, is home to one of Brittany's most discreet heritage gems: the fountain of Notre-Dame de la Porte. Listed as a Historic Monument since 1913, this 15th-century Gothic fountain has the rare distinction of being buried beneath a chapel, accessible only through a cellar window - as if time had jealously guarded its secrets. What makes this monument truly unique is precisely this historical layering, which gives it the atmosphere of a votive crypt. When the chapel was enlarged in the 18th century, it incorporated the fountain into its foundations, transforming an open-air space of popular devotion into an underground sanctuary. Visitors venturing through the opening discover an intimate stone space, where filtered light plays on fragments of medieval polychromy - traces of 15th-century painting that once framed the niche housing the Virgin. The visitor experience is as much an archaeological discovery as a spiritual walk. The descent to the fountain is a plunge into centuries of popular Breton piety. The faithful came here to seek the healing powers of water, an ancestral practice deeply rooted in Celtic culture and Christianised over the centuries. Despite revolutionary mutilation - hammered out sculptures, amputated gable - the monument retains a striking dignity. The setting of Quintin amplifies this heritage emotion. Surrounded by ramparts and dotted with schist and granite mansions, it offers one of the most authentic walks in inland Brittany. The fountain of Notre-Dame de la Porte is part of a network of places of Marian devotion typical of the Côtes-d'Armor region, where every spring and every crossroads seems to hold the memory of a prayer.
Architecture
The fountain at Notre-Dame de la Porte is built in the flamboyant Gothic style typical of 15th-century Breton architecture. The crowning feature is its sculpted tympanum, which displays a meticulous decorative programme: rampant arcatures - a diagonal ogival motif - rest on two bell towers at the ends, an architectural rhythm reminiscent of the canopy and altarpiece decorations of the same period. The tympanum is embellished with hooks - stylised foliage that adorns the edges of Gothic gables - and a carved finial at the top, now partially amputated. The central niche, intended to house the statue of the Virgin, is the symbolic focal point of the whole. It still bears traces of 15th-century polychrome decoration, a precious vestige of the colouring that was originally intended to enhance the sculpture as a whole. This type of painted decoration, widespread in the Middle Ages but rarely preserved, provides direct evidence of the artistic practices of the period. The materials used are those of the local tradition, probably granite and kersanton, a dark stone with plastic qualities appreciated by Breton sculptors. The architectural uniqueness of the monument lies in its current location: incorporated into the foundations of the chapel, which was enlarged in the 18th century, the fountain is located underground, accessible through a cellar window. This architectural mise en abyme - a Gothic monument embedded in a later construction - creates an unprecedented spatial stratification, transforming the fountain into a veritable palimpsest of stone.
Related Figures
Artisans tailleurs de pierre bretons du XVe siècle (auteurs anonymes du couronnement sculpté)Sculpteurs polychromistes médiévaux (auteurs des peintures subsistantes de la niche mariale)Autorités révolutionnaires quintinoises (responsables de la vente comme bien national et des mutilations iconoclastes)Administrateurs de la Commission des Monuments historiques (artisans du classement de 1913)
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Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Fontaine de Notre-Dame de la Porte located?
Fontaine de Notre-Dame de la Porte is located in Quintin, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Fontaine de Notre-Dame de la Porte built?
Fontaine de Notre-Dame de la Porte dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Fontaine de Notre-Dame de la Porte open to visitors?
Fontaine de Notre-Dame de la Porte is currently closed to visitors.