Par
Yann André
Published on
Dec 23 2024 at 5:00 p.m.
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Whether you are secular, believer or fervent practitioner, the beauty of religious buildings generally brings everyone into agreement. TIn these end-of-year celebrations, the occasion particularly lends itself to an overview of what the country of Saint-Brieuc (Côtes-d’Armor) and Lamballe has more remarkable.
Of course, this selection which is reduced to 10 monuments is very restrictive and many other churches deserve at least contemplative attention.
Saint-Étienne Cathedral in Saint-Brieuc
Saint-Étienne Cathedral is one of the rare fortified churches in Brittany. Tro Breizh stage, Breton pilgrimage, the current cathedral of Gothic style was built on a swamp from the 13th to the 18th centuries.
Important restoration work have been undertaken since 2009. The wall paintings and magnificent decorations of the axial chapel have thus regained all their luster. The bedside, a true architectural jewel on three levels, is dazzling.
If the building appears austere externally, it is bursting with light when you pass through the doors. A treasure!
The basilica of Quintin
The church of Quintin is not like the others: it is the basilica Our Lady of Deliverance.
Three buildings deserve this title in Côtes-d'Armor with Guingamp and Dinan because a particular miracle occurred there: a relic that belonged to the Virgin Mary was brought back from the crusade.
The Quintin basilica was rebuilt in 1887 on the site of the old collegiate church. Its neo-Gothic style bell tower marks the landscape. There are also many abbeys in the department that are worth a detour!
Saint-Mathurin to Moncontour
Vestige of the Middle Agesthe Saint-Mathurin church gives the small town of Moncontour a large part of its character.
On its centuries-old stained glass windowss, hundreds of details attract the eye without tiring it: a spectacle to be discovered in detail.
Once out of the church, it can be pleasant to take the opportunity to take a walk to immerse yourself in the medieval atmosphere and in particular to discover the charming Place Penthièvreas well as the small businesses and artisans who bring the town to life.
The Saint-Yves chapel in Saint-Brieuc
The former Grand Séminaire has been open to visitors since 2017. This large building of 6,000 m2 contains heritage riches like no other.
A cloister with perfect alignments leads to a real gem: an Art Deco style chapel decorated with mosaics by Isidore Odorico.
Elise Saint-Meaugon
Nestled in a green settingnear the Gouët water reservoir, the church of La Méaugon was built between the 16th (Saint-Blaise chapel) and the 18th centuries.
It contains treasures: sculpted altars, ancient statues, tombs of the Templars, wooden reliquaries… Its restoration with original materials has made it possible to safeguard one of the most remarkable religious monuments in the region.
The organ of Jugon-les-Lacs
The church of Jugon-les-Lacs is a very visited building, for different particularities.
One of them is its organ, the fruit ofa great collective adventure between Jugonnais and English: it is in reality the organ of the chapel of the Chichester hospital, in Sussex, which was dismantled, transported by ferry to Jugon-les-Lacs, in order to give a second life.
Today, he accompanies liturgical celebrations and used for concerts.
The Lamballe collegiate church
Notre-Dame Collegiate Church was built from the 12th to the 16th centuries. Classified under historical monuments in 1848, the church was no ordinary one.
It was fortified in the 14th century because it was on a strategic pointat the top of a very steep slope, in times of war.
The church was in fact integrated into the castle defense system de Lamballe now disappeared. The collegiate church can be visited from May to September only.
The glass roof of Saint-Alban
The church of Saint-Alban consists of a Romanesque part from the 12th century, with modern stained glass windows, and a choir from the 14th century.
The church choir has one of the oldest glass roofs in Brittanymade from 1312 to 1328. It represents the Passion of Christ.
This glass roof has been the subject of several restorations over the centuries. The main altar was made in 1677, it is the work of a carpenter from Lamballe. It was in 1923 that the large glass roof was classified as a Historic Monument.
The Saint-Pierre Saint-Paul church in Pléneuf-Val-André
The church of Saint-Pierre and Saint-Paul in Pléneuf-Val-André is a building of neo-Romanesque-Gothic stylebuilt in granite from Ile-Grande and completed in 1895. The first stone was blessed in 1889, the year the old church was demolished to be replaced by this new building.
Within it the church houses many treasures: the statues of six Breton saints (Charles de Blois, Saint Corentin, Saint Yves, Saint Guénolé, Saint Vincent Ferrier and Saint Osmane), a polychrome wooden Pietà from the 16th century (statue representing the Virgin holding the body of Christ on her knees), a Virgin with child of the 18th century but also pieces from 1913 by the Rennes mosaicist Isodore Odorico.
Saint-Martin in Lamballe
The Saint-Martin church was founded by monks (from Marmoutiers, near Tours) in 1084. It is the oldest church in Lamballe.
Successively marked by a Romanesque then Gothic style, it hasa Renaissance bell tower. Restored in 2010, it today reveals magnificent traces of medieval frescoes but also altarpieces and statues from the 18th century.
The Romanesque part (five arcades and the blind windows) are made of pudding (dark stone made of agglomerates). This is a unique case in Brittany. The church can be visited every day of the year. Contact: 02 96 31 02 55.
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