Manoir de Kérisac
ManorHidden Treasure
Manoir de Kérisac, located in Plouisy (Département 22), is a Renaissance château built in the 16th century. The monument is currently closed to visitors.
Key facts
- Type
- Manor
- Period
- Renaissance (16th century)
- Location
- Plouisy, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.5707, -3.2043
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089492
Nestling in the hedged farmland of the Trégor region, Kérisac manor house reveals the sober elegance of 16th-century Breton Renaissance architecture, with its mullioned windows and carefully carved granite.
History
In the heart of the commune of Plouisy, a few leagues from Guingamp, the manor house of Kérisac stands out as one of the most discreet and authentic examples of Breton rural nobility during the Renaissance. Far from the splendour of the great stately residences, it embodies the characterful architecture typical of the Trégor region, where blue-grey granite dictates the materials used, and where the ornamentation is skilful without ever becoming ostentatious. What distinguishes Kérisac from a simple country manor house is the remarkable coherence of its ensemble. The main building, flanked by its outbuildings and agricultural outbuildings, forms a compact whole that betrays the dual vocation of its builders: that of cultivated gentlemen, sensitive to the architectural innovations coming from Italy, and that of landowners concerned with managing a productive estate. The cross-mullioned windows, typical of 16th-century Breton architecture, add rhythm and light to the façades, while the finely sculpted lintels bear witness to the attention paid to detail. A visit to Kérisac, even from the outside, offers a unique experience: that of seeing a building frozen in its century, spared the major alterations of the 19th century that disfigured so many Breton manor houses. The park and surrounding area, with its dense, ancient vegetation, add to this feeling of travelling back in time. Photographers and lovers of rural heritage will appreciate the soft light and remarkable angles of view, especially in the late afternoon when the granite takes on golden hues. The setting of Plouisy, a farming village in central Côtes-d'Armor, adds to the authenticity of the place. Kérisac is not a postcard monument: it's a living fragment of the seigniorial history of inland Brittany, listed as a Historic Monument in 1926 in recognition of its irreplaceable heritage value.
Architecture
Kérisac Manor belongs to the large family of Breton Renaissance manor houses, characterised by the almost exclusive use of local granite, sober ornamentation and functional volumes. The main building has an elongated rectangular floor plan and a two-storey elevation covered by a steeply pitched roof, a traditional solution in the Trégor region to cope with the frequent rain and Atlantic winds. The most distinctive feature of the building is the regular arrangement of stone mullioned and transomed openings on the façades, reflecting the Renaissance influence that penetrated inland Brittany in the 16th century, while retaining a very local robustness in their implementation. The door and window frames are carefully treated, sometimes with cavet or heel mouldings, and straight or braced lintels depending on the part of the building. A polygonal stair turret, a recurring feature of Breton manor house architecture from this period, could be set against the main building, serving the upper floors and providing a visual landmark on the façade. The farm outbuildings - stables, barns and possibly a dovecote - complete the ensemble and underline the estate's agropastoral vocation. The materials used, which come exclusively from local quarries of bluish or grey granite, give the whole a remarkable unity of colour, typical of the built landscape of the Trégor region. The roof, probably covered in slate from Anjou or the Châteaulin region, crowns the building in a dark hue that contrasts harmoniously with the light-coloured stone of the facades. This balance between austerity and elegance is what makes the Breton Manor style of the 16th century so distinctive.
Related Figures
Commanditaire anonyme du XVIe siècle, noble trégorois ayant initié la construction du manoirAnne de Bretagne (1477-1514), dont le règne et l'union avec la France forment le contexte politique de l'essor des manoirs bretonsProsper Mérimée (1803-1870), inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, initiateur de la politique de protection qui aboutira à l'inscription de Kérisac en 1926Propriétaires successifs des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles, familles nobles ou bourgeoises du Trégor ayant transmis le domaineInspecteurs des Bâtiments de France ayant instruit le dossier d'inscription de 1926
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Manoir de Kérisac located?
Manoir de Kérisac is located in Plouisy, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Manoir de Kérisac built?
Manoir de Kérisac dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Manoir de Kérisac open to visitors?
Manoir de Kérisac is currently closed to visitors.
