Ossuaire
MonumentHidden Treasure
Ossuaire, located in Lanvellec (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
- Lanvellec, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.6192, -3.5382
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089301
A medieval jewel in the Trégor region, the Lanvellec ossuary features a graceful colonnade with tri-lobed arches, a rare testimony to a centuries-old Breton burial tradition that has been listed as a Historic Monument since 1924.
History
In the heart of the village of Lanvellec, in the Côtes-d'Armor region, stands one of those discreet buildings that Brittany has elevated to the dignity of art: an ossuary whose sober elegance contrasts with the solemnity expected of places of remembrance. Here, the grey stone is enlivened by a double row of finely carved colonnettes, bearing three-lobed arches whose almost musical rhythm evokes the claustral galleries of the late Middle Ages. This small funerary monument alone illustrates the singularity of Breton culture, which has managed to transform the collective management of the dead into a form of vernacular architecture of rare coherence. What makes the Lanvellec ossuary truly unique is its remarkable state of preservation and the precision of its architectural vocabulary. The tri-lobed arches, a form inherited from Gothic art, give the whole structure a lightness that is almost paradoxical for a building dedicated to housing the bones of the deceased, moved during successive reburials. In Brittany, these buildings systematically adjoined the parish churches, forming with them an inseparable liturgical and symbolic whole, responding both to the practical constraints of overcrowded cemeteries and to a popular theology deeply attached to the cult of ancestors. A visit to the ossuary is a natural way to discover the religious heritage of Lanvellec, a village in the Trégor region of Brittany, surrounded by hedged farmland and steep-sided valleys. The building, modest in size, is in fact a treasure trove for those who take the time to observe its sculpted details: the regularity of the columns, the quality of the bonding and the sobriety of the whole form a coherent whole that the patina of the centuries makes even more poignant. For the photographer or architecture enthusiast, the ossuary offers a choice subject in low-angled light at the end of the day, when cast shadows highlight the relief of the arches and the texture of the local granite. The bucolic setting of the parish cemetery, planted with centuries-old yew trees and surrounded by ancient walls, adds to the contemplative atmosphere of the place, conducive to meditation as much as to historical curiosity.
Architecture
The Lanvellec ossuary is a classic example of a small Breton funerary edifice: a building open to the outside, designed to be visible from the cemetery and visually accessible to the faithful and officiants alike. Its most remarkable feature is the double row of finely ringed granite columns supporting a series of three-lobed arches. This form of arch, which resembles a stylised trefoil, is directly inherited from the Gothic decorative repertoire and is one of the most recurrent motifs in medieval Breton funerary architecture. The slender, regular columns give the whole structure a lightness that contrasts with the usual massiveness of Armorican granite buildings. The roof, probably made of slate as is almost universally used in the region, crowns the building in a sober, functional manner. The interior, a simple storage area open at the sides, was designed to hold the bones exhumed during the rotation of burials, often carefully arranged and sometimes accompanied by small votive offerings or funerary inscriptions. The dimensions of the building, modest by monumental architectural standards, are on the other hand generous for an ossuary in a rural village, which testifies to the relative importance of the parish of Lanvellec and the care taken by its inhabitants in maintaining their burial heritage. The quality of the stone-cutting, the precision of the moulded profiles and the stylistic coherence of the ensemble mean that its construction can be attributed to a local workshop with a perfect command of the late Gothic vocabulary of the Trégor region.
Related Figures
Tailleurs de pierre du Trégor médiéval (artisans anonymes formés aux chantiers de la cathédrale de Tréguier)Curés de la paroisse de Lanvellec (gestionnaires successifs du cimetière et de l'ossuaire du Moyen Âge au XIXe siècle)Inspecteurs des Monuments Historiques de Bretagne (artisans du classement de 1924)Évêques de Tréguier (autorité ecclésiastique dont dépendait la paroisse de Lanvellec au Moyen Âge)
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Ossuaire located?
Ossuaire is located in Lanvellec, Département 22 department, Bretagne region, France.
When was Ossuaire built?
Ossuaire dates back to a period built during the Renaissance (16th century).
Is Ossuaire open to visitors?
Ossuaire is currently closed to visitors.