Maison dite à lanterne
MonumentHidden Treasure
Maison dite à lanterne, located in Morlaix (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
- Morlaix, Département 29, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.5770, -3.8270
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00090133
The Gothic jewel of Morlaix, this lantern house boasts a sculpted corbelled façade, a light-filled inner courtyard and a wooden spiral staircase of rare elegance - a masterpiece of the Breton bourgeoisie of the 15th and 17th centuries.
History
In the heart of Morlaix, a prosperous town in the Léon region whose commercial influence spread throughout Brittany, the lantern house is one of the most intact examples of medieval and Renaissance bourgeois housing in Finistère. A rare survivor of a type of architecture that was once widespread in the town, it encapsulates within its walls several centuries of craftsmanship and social ambition, taking visitors on an intimate journey into the daily lives of Morlaix's elite. What really sets this building apart is its tripartite composition, a true typological singularity: a main building on the street with a richly sculpted corbelled façade, an inner courtyard partly covered by a glazed roof - the "lantern" that gives the house its name - and a rear building accessible via wooden walkways known as "bridges". This layout, halfway between a private mansion and a courtyard house, reveals the ingenuity of Breton master carpenters when faced with the constraints of narrow, elongated plots in medieval towns. The visitor experience is one of gradual unveiling. The street façade immediately catches the eye, with its sculpted colonnettes and niches filled with pious statuettes. Then the interior courtyard reveals its filtered light and, at the centre of the layout, the wooden spiral staircase - a masterpiece of carpentry - whose one-piece spiral ascends to the upper floors with an astonishing lightness. The wooden galleries running around the courtyard reinforce the atmosphere of a domestic theatre suspended in time. The Morlaix setting enhances the charm of the place. The town, criss-crossed by its famous viaduct and lined with cobbled streets, provides a coherent setting for the lantern house, where other timber-framed houses still form the silhouette of a preserved medieval centre. To visit this house is to understand in a single place the economic, artistic and religious roots of a trading Brittany at the height of its power.
Architecture
The lantern house is based on a principle of tripartite composition that radically distinguishes it from the ordinary urban house. The street-facing building has a characteristic corbelled façade, with successive timber-framed storeys gradually extending out onto the street, a technique that makes it possible to increase the living space while creating the overhanging effect so typical of Morlaix streets. The ground floor, made of Léon granite, provides the foundation for the whole building and traditionally housed the owner's commercial or craft activities. The vertical wooden uprights are adorned with finely-turned colonnettes, and the runners - horizontal pieces of timberwork - are moulded in an elegant Gothic-Renaissance style. Niches house a pious and professional iconography: the Virgin Mary and the Angel of the Annunciation, Saint James, Saint Lawrence, Saint Nicholas and Saint Barbara, patron saints of travellers, merchants and sailors. The most spectacular feature is the wooden spiral staircase, set in the heart of the courtyard and completely open onto it. Its core is carved from a single piece of wood - a technical feat that testifies to the exceptional mastery of Breton carpenters of the period. The panelled banisters are decorated with napkin motifs, and the posts linking the galleries are carved with figures and interlacing designs. The staircase ends with a statuette of Saint John the Evangelist, a reminder of the deeply Christian nature of this domestic space. The "lantern" itself is the partially glazed roof overhanging the inner courtyard, flooding this transitional space between the two main buildings with diffuse light. The wooden walkways - the "bridges of the aisles" - are another functional and aesthetic feature of this Morlaix-style building.
Related Figures
Maîtres-charpentiers bretons des XVe-XVIIe siècles — artisans anonymes à l'origine de la conception et de la réalisation de l'escalier à vis et des façades sculptéesTisserands et marchands drapiers morlaisiens — commanditaires appartenant à la bourgeoisie commerçante enrichie par le commerce de la toile de linArmateurs du port de Morlaix — propriétaires potentiels de ce type de demeure, acteurs du commerce maritime avec l'Angleterre et l'EspagneProsper Mérimée — inspecteur général des Monuments Historiques, dont l'action nationale a posé les bases de la protection du patrimoine régional breton au XIXe siècleArchitectes du patrimoine du Finistère — responsables des études préalables ayant conduit au classement de 1987
Tags
Nearby castles
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Maison dite à lanterne located?
Maison dite à lanterne is located in Morlaix, Département 29 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Maison dite à lanterne built?
Maison dite à lanterne dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Maison dite à lanterne open to visitors?
Maison dite à lanterne is currently closed to visitors.
