Ossuaire
MonumentHidden Treasure
Ossuaire, located in Mégrit (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
- Mégrit, Département 22, Bretagne
- Visit
- Closed to visitors
- GPS
- 48.3745, -2.2494
- Mérimée Reference
- PA00089325
A discreet Breton funerary jewel dating from the 17th century, the Mégrit ossuary illustrates the Breton tradition of venerating ancestors, with its sober granite architecture typical of the Côtes-d'Armor region.
History
In the heart of the village of Mégrit, in the Côtes-d'Armor region, stands a rare and silent building: a 17th-century ossuary, a precious reminder of a funeral practice deeply rooted in Breton civilisation. Classified as a Historic Monument by decree on 10 December 1927, this small granite building contains a symbolic and memorial charge of uncommon intensity, reminding us that death in Brittany has never been relegated to the margins of social life. Breton ossuaries are a distinctive architectural and cultural feature of the Armorican peninsula. Built in the immediate vicinity of parish churches, they were used to collect the bones exhumed during the successive reuse of burial sites, as ancient cemeteries were often saturated. Far from being mere morbid repositories, these buildings were places of prayer and meditation, regularly visited by the families of the deceased. The one at Mégrit, with its characteristic Grand Siècle Breton style, is part of this living tradition. The experience of visiting it is surprisingly intimate. The building, modest in size like most of its Armorican counterparts, requires a slow, attentive approach. The granite joints, the quality of the bonding and any sculpted decorations - skulls, crossed tibias, inscriptions in Breton or Latin - are all details that the discerning eye will be able to detect. The visit takes on its full meaning in the relationship between the architecture and its immediate surroundings, the parish enclosure of Mégrit. Mégrit is a rural commune in central-western Côtes-d'Armor, in the Broons region, at the crossroads of the hedged farmland characteristic of inland Brittany. The ossuary is one of the few protected heritage features in the area, which makes it all the more interesting historically and architecturally for lovers of Breton culture and funerary heritage.
Architecture
The Mégrit ossuary has the typical features of 17th-century Breton parish ossuaries: a rectangular building of small dimensions, built entirely of local granite, the king of building materials in inland Brittany. The walls are made of carefully squared granite rubble, with ashlar quoins that add to the sobriety and solidity of the whole. The roof, probably covered in slate - a material emblematic of the Côtes-d'Armor region - has a gabled profile with a low ridge, giving the building its characteristic compact silhouette. The main facade, facing the church or the cemetery, is pierced by arcades or straight-headed openings that allow the bones inside to be seen, in keeping with Breton tradition, which wanted the remains of the deceased to remain visible to the living who came to pray for them. These openings, framed by simple mouldings, are the main decorative feature of a building that is deliberately spare. Sculpted motifs in low relief - stylised skulls, crossed tibias, funerary inscriptions in Latin or Breton - often adorned these buildings, combining the macabre aesthetic typical of the period with the spiritual message of the resurrection of the bodies. The cramped interior was organised to accommodate the bones in orderly rows, sometimes with skulls lined up in front, as was the custom in many Armorican ossuaries. This simple but solemn layout reflected the Breton concept of absolute equality in the face of death, where nobles and peasants were united in the same stone space.
Related Figures
Recteur de la paroisse de Mégrit au XVIIe siècle (commanditaire probable de l'édifice)Fabriciens et notables mégritais ayant financé la constructionInspecteur des Monuments Historiques ayant instruit le dossier de classement en 1927Membres des confréries funéraires paroissiales du XVIIe siècle
Tags
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Ossuaire located?
Ossuaire is located in Mégrit, 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.