Immeuble
MonumentHidden Treasure
Immeuble, located in Roscoff (Département 29), 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
- Roscoff, Département 29, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.7260, -3.9840
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090405
A rare vestige of Roscoff architecture from the 16th and 17th centuries, this building in the rue de la Réveillère retains a medieval staircase turret and two wings on either side, a precious reminder of Roscoff's prosperous trading days.
History
In the heart of Roscoff, a corsair town and Breton port on the English Channel, stands one of the last buildings to have survived the urban transformations of past centuries. Its discreet facade reveals a remarkable architectural stratification, where the skills of the local masons of the late Renaissance and the ambitions of the shipowners and merchants who made the town's fortune at the turn of the 17th century can be seen. What sets this building apart from the rest of the city's heritage is precisely its ability to condense two centuries of architectural evolution into a single building. The stair turret, the oldest part of the complex, is reminiscent of 16th-century Breton building practices, where the stone screw was used as much to distribute the levels as to signify the status of its owner. In a town where Renaissance town houses have almost all disappeared, this construction detail is of exceptional documentary value. A visit to the building, or even just contemplating its façades from the Rue de la Réveillère, is an invitation to travel back in time. It's easy to see the gradual expansion that governed its growth: the original main building, sober and functional, was joined by two wings, creating a U-shaped layout typical of middle-class residences of the classical period. The setting is that of an unspoilt Roscoff, where cobbled streets and granite houses form a coherent whole. The proximity of the port, the ramparts and the church of Notre-Dame-de-Kroaz-Batz - itself a jewel of the Breton Renaissance - adds to the heritage interest of this architectural walk. The building is part of an urban ensemble that makes Roscoff one of Finistère's richest centres for early civil architecture.
Architecture
The building is arranged around a main building that runs parallel to the rue de la Réveillère, in a layout that is typical of the urban layout of Roses. To the rear of this main building, a freestanding stair turret - the oldest part of the complex, dating back to the 16th century - is a reminder of the architectural styles of the late Breton Renaissance. Two wings, added in the seventeenth or eighteenth century, complete the layout by creating a semi-enclosed courtyard, giving the building a U-shaped layout typical of classical period mansions. The dominant material is granite, the quintessential regional stone, carefully cut and assembled in a regular pattern. The facades, sober in their treatment, would originally have featured the decorative elements typical of Rococo residences of the period: moulded window surrounds, worked lintels, possibly niches or pedimented dormers. The staircase turret, covered by a pepperpot or pavilion roof in keeping with Breton custom, is the most expressive element of the overall design. The architectural interest of the building lies less in its size than in the legibility of its successive construction phases. It is an invaluable architectural document for understanding how Roscovite civil architecture evolved between the end of the Renaissance and the beginning of the Classical period, at a time when the town was enjoying remarkable commercial prosperity.
Related Figures
Marchands et armateurs roscovites du XVIIe siècle (commanditaires probables de l'édifice)Maçons et tailleurs de granit du Finistère (artisans de la construction)Marie de Médicis (de passage à Roscoff en 1600, illustrant le rayonnement de la ville à cette époque)Les Johnnies de Roscoff (successeurs culturels des négociants qui habitèrent ces demeures)
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Immeuble located?
Immeuble is located in Roscoff, Département 29 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Immeuble built?
Immeuble dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Immeuble open to visitors?
Immeuble is currently closed to visitors.