Brittany

In the cemetery outside Pontivy is a menhir surmounted by a cross. The spire of N.D. de la Houssaye beyond the cemetery is an interesting specimen of the flamboyant architecture of the beginning of the 15th cent. It was built in 1438, but the tower, which is quite in the Breton renaissance character, was actually built as late as 1750. It is curious as showing to how late a date the Gothic feeling hung on in Brittany.

Noyal-Pontivy. The church has a 14th cent. tower and spire. The porch is flamboyant. On one side within are apostles, on the other, curious subjects, The Baptism, an Angel holding a pair of blue breeches whilst Christ is in the water, a naked man carrying his head upside-down, and some other subjects not easily made out. The church has been carefully restored. The early flamboyant E. window has the date cut on the splay. The vaulting of nave and chancel is modern. In the N. transept is fine old glass representing the Annunciation, Nativity, Shepherds and Angels, Adoration of Shepherds, Circumcision, Flight into Egypt, Massacre of the Innocents; also the Bearing of the Cross, the Veronica, Crucifixion and Entombment from another window. In the nave is a curious painted retable of S. Maurice de Clohars, who d. 1191, and who was born in this parish. Noyala was one of the largest parishes in the diocese of Vannes, and Pontivy was a chapelry in it. S. Géran, now a daughter church, was probably originally the head of a plou of Geraint, King of Domnonia. But now he is forgotten and replaced by S. Guirec. In this parish the canal between Nantes and Brest forms a series of backwaters and lochs. The Chapel of SS. Dredeneau is near the line and the canal. It is a cruciform building of flamboyant period, but of no architectural interest. It however contains a good 16th cent. statue of S. Bridget, and statues of the Brothers Dredeneau. According to the legend they were two princes who were murdered, and their bodies thrown into a marsh on the further side of the canal, where they were found by a pig. The figures are rude; one holds a book on which is written: "Ce Saint à combatu jusqu'à la mort pour la loi de Dieu, et n'a pas craint les menaces des infidèles parceque sa foi etait fondée sur la pierre." The Holy Well of the saints is in very good order and bears their statues. P. 4th Sunday after Easter; at S. Géran, 3rd Sunday in October; at Noyala, July 6th.

Stival. At the entrance to the village is the Holy Well of S. Meriadoc, late flamboyant to renaissance. The church is cross-shaped with a slated spire, and has no aisles. It has a boarded and painted roof, and the chancel is covered with paintings representing the legend of S. Meriadoc. The fine stained glass is in a deplorable condition. The E. window contains a Jesse tree. There are saints in the other windows. In the churchyard are a large late cruciform chapel and an ossuary.

Locmalo. The superb Chapel of N.D. de Quelven is an object of one of the most popular Pardons in Morbihan, on August 15. W. tower, transepts and gabled apse are all of late flamboyant. In the tower is a very fine rose window to the bell-chamber. The proportions of tower and spire are not however satisfactory, and the chapel imposes on one by its rich detail rather than by its broad features. It resembles S. Nicodème in Plumilliau, but the tower is very inferior. There are three porches, one under the tower and two to the south. The tower is half a century older than the body of the church. Choir and transepts are vaulted. There is a plain stone gallery for the minstrels in the S. aisle. In two windows in the choir is fine contemporary glass, a Jesse tree and the apostles. The rest of the glass is modern garish rubbish. The granite carving of the church is poor owing to the coarse quality of the stone.

Pont Scorff (M.) chl. arr. Lorient. The Scorff divides the town into two parts, the upper and the lower towns, united by two bridges. The Church of S. Albin is of 1610 with additions in 1710. One town was the religious, the other the secular. The religious one was Les-Albin (the Court of Albin), and here was born S. Albinus, who became Bishop of Angers in 529 and died in 550. P. 1st S. in March. P. of S. Yves, Sunday after 10th May. P. of S. Nicodème 3rd Sunday in September.

Quevin (Coet-quen, the white wood). A menhir 16 ft. high, to the west a Calvary with fifteen figures. A Holy Well, and Chapel of S. Eloi, 16th cent., in the village, but altered in 18th cent. The parish church is modern. S. Nicodème, late flamboyant chapel of 1578. La Trinité, 16th cent., but with a tower of 1771. P. 7th Sunday after Trinity.

Port Louis (M.) chl. arr. Lorient. The Church of N.D. was built in 1665. The Chapel of S. Pierre contains a statue of S. Elisha found in the sea at the beginning of the 17th cent., to which the Pope accorded sundry indulgences. Port Louis was but a small fishing village called Locperan till the beginning of the 17th cent. It possesses a citadel and a marine hospital. P. at Locmalo 26th July.

Questembert (M.) chl. arr. Vannes. Here, in 888, Alan I., Count of Vannes, encountered the Northmen and slaughtered 12,000 of them. Hardly 400 escaped to their ships. In consequence of this victory, Alan was proclaimed Duke of Brittany. Some crosses mark the spot where the battle raged. La Croix Rochue has a weapon like a halbert cut on it. La Croix Tuaint is marked with five nail heads and a small cross. La Croix à la Poèle also has nail heads. The parish church is modern, 1863. In the churchyard a fine Calvary. The Chapel of S. Michel is flamboyant. In the Chapel of N.D., an old Templar church, is a Romanesque font employed as a bénitier. The town possesses some old houses and halles of 1675; also a cylindrical tower with two heads on it called Quest and his wife.

Quiberon (M.) chl. arr. Lorient. A favourite watering place on a sandy strip of land, some twelve miles long, and only one and a half wide. The sea has gained considerably here. An alignment of menhirs now leads into the water. The granite rock is everywhere under blown sand that shifts with every gale. A menhir is at the point of Beg-conguel, and there are remains of a cromlech (stone circle) at Beg-lann, and ruins of two dolmens at Manémeur. Two dolmens at Kerniscot, an allée couverte at Croh-collé, and the remains of an alignment at the Mill of Kerbournec, and two more dolmens at Port-blanc. But what is most interesting here is the prehistoric necropolis at Belle-vue, Be-ker-Nôz and another in the Isle of Thénec. The graves are stone chests, in which the skeletons are crouched, but occasionally extended. The sand has preserved the bones, which have lost nothing but their gelatine. An early Christian cemetery has also been discovered at Kerné. In 1795 an English squadron disembarked 3000 émigrés here, and they were joined by numerous peasants. Hoche defeated them, and swept the peninsula, driving together all who remained. The prisoners were then all shot down in cold blood, some at Quiberon, some at Auray, and the rest at Vannes.

* QUIMPER (F.) chl. d'arr. This beautiful town is situated at the junction of the Stier and the Odet, and is the seat of a bishop. The diocese of S. Pol de Léon has been united to that of Quimper. It is at a distance of fifteen miles from the sea, but has a small port. It is a bright and thriving city, and is the seat of the manufacture of the Breton faience, a pretty ware copied from old Rouen, but with original developments. The old walls are almost gone. Quimper is dominated on the south by a lofty well-timbered hill. It has charming esplanades by the sides of the Odet. In the town are several old houses. The great glory of the place is however the Cathedral of S. Corentin. The choir dates from the end of the 13th cent. The transepts and nave belong to the 15th. The twin spires are modern and excellent. The architect, M. Bigod, took that of Pontcroix as his pattern, and could not have done better. The erection of these spires was due to the town folk consenting to a duty of a sou a pound being charged on all the butter brought into market. The choir leans considerably to the left, and the junction with the transepts is awkwardly effected. It is said that this deflection was due to the spongy nature of the soil which did not allow of the choir being built in the same axis as the nave. This, however, does not explain it, as the nave was erected subsequent to the choir. At the summit of the W. gable is a statue of King Grallo. This W. front is fine, but the modern filling in of the doorway is weak. A S. side entrance is altogether exquisite. There is, however, nothing really characteristic of a local school in the cathedral; it follows the traditions of the Isle of France, but has not the loftiness, often exaggerated, of some of those magnificent cathedrals. The beautiful lady-chapel is in the purest geometrical style. The choir has an apsidal termination. The clerestory windows are filled with old glass representing saints, but the modern glass is detestable. The third chapel on the N. side contains memorials of a supposed miracle, a crucifix that emitted drops of blood when a man perjured himself before it. The high altar is a mass of silver gilt, decorated in a style suitable to a restaurant rather than to a church. There is a good, restored, bishop's chapel. The Church of S. Mathieu has been rebuilt and has a modern spire. The fine stained glass representing the scenes of the Passion in the east window has been retained; it is of the 16th cent. The musée should be visited. Besides containing an admirable collection of paintings, many by Breton artists, it has a large group of lay-figures dressed in the various costumes of Léon and Cornouaille, representing a marriage. Nor should the visitor omit a call on M. Villard, who has an extensive collection of really artistic photographs of Breton costumes and architecture. Quimper market should be visited on Saturday, when various costumes may be seen, the white quilted collars of the Pont-aven district, and the curious head dresses of the Bigauden women.

Locmaria is only a stroll down the left bank of the Odet, and there may be seen a very beautiful example of a Romanesque church with central tower, transepts and apse.

Quimper forms an admirable centre for a number of excursions, as branch lines run thence to Pont l'Abbé and to Pont Croix and Audierne. The great horse fair is on April 15. The patronal feast at the cathedral is on August 15; the P. at Locmaria is on the Sunday after December 12.

Plogonnec, a very interesting late flamboyant church with a renaissance tower. It has magnificent old glass in the windows, representing the Last Judgment, the Story of the Cross, the Transfiguration, and some Celtic Saints, S. Cadoc with a bell, S. Edern, son of Vortigern, riding on a stag, and S. Theilo, Bishop of Llandaff, also mounted on a stag. There is a pretty flamboyant Chapel of S. Theilo in the parish, and this last window was removed from it. P. at S. Thegonnec's Chapel, Ascension Day; at that of Loretto, 2nd Sunday in August; at that of S. Albin on the last Sunday in September; the P. at the parish church on the last Sunday in July.

Locronan. Once a thriving little town living on its looms, but since weaving has been done by steam, its prosperity has gone, and many houses are in ruins. Those that remain occupied are all of granite, and some, if not all, old. The church has the Chapel of S. Ronan on its south side opening out of it by a couple of arches. All is flamboyant. The church had a spire that was struck by lightning in 1806 and fell, carrying away pinnacles and the lace-like parapet on the N. side. On this N. side is a little chapel with a graceful flamboyant window in the gable, and saints in niches at the sides. The E. window of the chancel is full of old glass in confusion, but is about to be restored. On the pulpit is the legend of S. Ronan in ten compartments. The mouldings of the arcades and of the great belfry windows are poor. The P. is on Trinity Sunday, but every sixth year is the Grand Tromenie, which is observed with great concourse of people from all parts. A procession leaves the church at 2.30 P.M. and winds with banners and hymn-singing round the mountain on the slope of which Locronan is built. Descending a narrow street leads to the renaissance Chapel of S. Eloi and a Holy Well of the same date. The tomb of S. Ronan is in the chapel beside the parish church.

Plonevez-Porzay has a very villainous modern church that has replaced one that was old and full of interest. The porch has however been preserved. P. 2nd Sunday in August. Ste. Anne-de-la-Palue in this parish is a great resort of pilgrims, and the Pardon there is largely attended. It is on the last Sunday in August. The P. of N.D. de la Clarté is on the 2nd Sunday in September.

Quéménéven. The Chapel of Kergoat is an object of pilgrimage, and the Pardon there is very greatly thronged, and interesting costumes may be seen there. The P. is on the Sunday after August 15.

S. Venec, a chapel half-way between Quimper and Châteaulin, is interesting. It contains a statue of the Threebreasted Gwen, and of her sons, Gwethenoc, represented as a Knight, and Winwaloe. There are also here a good Calvary and a pretty Holy Well.

Ergué Gaberic. A fine menhir. A chapel of the Templars. The P. at Kerdevot is greatly frequented. It is on the 2nd Sunday in September.

Pluguffan. Only deserving of a visit on the occasion of its Pardon, which is on the 2nd Sunday in September, where fine costumes may be seen.

* QUIMPERLÉ (F.) chl. d'arr. An interesting and picturesque town on the Laïta formed of the junction of the Ellé and the Isole. The abbey church of Ste. Croix and the town about it is in the basin, but the Church of S. Michel and the upper town is on the hillside with steep streets, some ascended by steps. The buildings of the abbey have been converted into municipal offices and Mairie. The church is circular and Romanesque. A tower had been constructed on the four central drums, but they showed signs of giving way, and the tower had to be taken down and the church rebuilt, but exactly on the ancient lines. There is a crypt beneath the lady-chapel. The carved corbels outside the apse are curious. A fine renaissance retable has been mutilated and plastered against the west wall. In the crypt is the tomb of S. Gurlois. S. Michel stands up boldly on the summit of the hill, on the right side of the Laïta, sustained on massive substructures. The nave is 2nd pointed. There are no aisles to the nave. The grand central tower and choir with its aisles are flamboyant. There is an exquisite window of that style on the N. side and a superb N. porch, but the E. window is in very bad renaissance. The east end is supported on two huge buttresses that are pierced with arches for the roadway. The west end of the church is built against, with houses, and does not seem ever to have had a western entrance.

Some quaint bits of street architecture may be found by penetrating into the narrow lanes. The Church of S. Columbanus is in ruins. A pretty walk out of the town leads to the little chapel of the Château of Rosgrande, with apse at each end. It contains a renaissance roodscreen, with subjects from sacred history and pagan mythology indiscriminately carved on it. In the chapel are two 14th cent. statues of S. Cadoc and S. Yhuel, the grandson of Gildas, afterwards Bishop of Llandaff, who spent his youth in Brittany. Fishing and charming walks are to be had in the valleys of the Ellé and Isolle. The visitor will find this the best headquarters for excursions to Le Faouët, 21 kilometres, and down the river to Pouldu. Patronal Feast at Quimperlé on the 2nd Sunday in May and on the 3rd September. P. at Lothea, Easter Tuesday and Trinity Sunday. Pardon des Oiseaux at Toulfouen, Whitsun Monday.

The forest of Clohars-Carnoet envelops the ruins of one of Conmore's castles, but it was rebuilt in the 15th cent. On the right bank of the Laïta, in a sheltered position, are the fine ruins of the Abbey of S. Maurice, founded in 1170. The chapter house is of the 14th cent. and 15th cent. A chapel that has been restored contains a good bronze Christ of the 17th cent. P. Whitsun Monday. P. at Clohars on the 15th August.

* QUINTIN (C.N.) chl. arr. S. Brieuc. In pretty woodland country. A menhir called La Roche-longue in a field near the town, 21 ft. high. The church is modern, but it retains some old glass. In the street of N.D. is a granite house of 1611. Another old house dates from 1560. Remains of the castle built in the 15th cent., which was replaced by another, never completed, in the 17th cent. The modern château contains a fine gallery of family portraits and Gobelin tapestries. In the cemetery is an ossuary of the 17th cent.

Redon (I.V.) chl. d'arrond. Above the junction of the Vilaine and Oust, at the foot of a hill, commanded by the ruined Château de Beaumont. Redon was a great abbey founded by King Nominoe and S. Convoyon. Here was held the council that deposed the Frank bishops of Rennes, Nantes and Vannes. The church was ruined at the Revolution, and all that remains of it are the W. tower and spire and the choir with a portion only of the nave. The tower now stands isolated. The nave is of the 14th cent. It was originally Romanesque. A transept is of the 12th cent. and there is a stunted central tower at the crossing. The choir ends in an apse and is of the 13th cent. and is fine. The high altar and the pulpit were given to the church by Richelieu. On the N. side of the choir is a fortified chapel of the 15th cent. In one of the side chapels is a tomb supposed to be that of Duke Francis I. The abbey buildings are occupied by the Institute of S. Sauveur. The cloisters are of the 17th cent. The canal from Nantes to Brest cuts the town in two and is crossed by a bridge.

The centre of the chestnut trade, the "marron." The trees are kept small and pruned, and are not suffered to exhaust themselves in producing a superabundance of fruit. The marron is much larger than the common "châtain."

* RENNES (I.V.). Capital of the Department, and the ancient capital of the duchy of Brittany. It is composed of two towns separated by the Vilaine. On the right bank is the Upper Town. Rennes was burnt down in 1720, and was rebuilt in the ugly style of the period, and in grey granite. The river has been embanked and carried in a straight course through the town. There are no fine buildings on the embankments. The most pretentious structure on the left bank, between the station and the river, is the lycée, with a chapel in a nondescript style. Several bridges, all mean in character, cross the river. On the right bank are the most important buildings. The cathedral is a hideous structure commenced in 1787 and completed in 1844. The two side doors and the niches at the west end belong to the earlier building and are renaissance. Within, the arch has been studiously avoided. Eight enormous red marble pillars on each side of the nave sustain the heavy vault and the clerestory. Their bases are but 6 feet apart. The interior has been richly decorated with gold and colour, but nothing can relieve the cumbrousness and gloom of the internal appearance.

One of the old gates of the town, the Porte Mordelaix, remains, but it is not particularly picturesque, and a few old houses escaped the fire and have not yet been pulled down. To the east of the cathedral is the Church of S. Sauveur, even more ugly than the former. In a small street opening from the river opposite the Hotel Moderne is the one architectural gem possessed by the town, the Chapel of S. Yves, now desecrated into a store-house. It is of the end of the 15th cent., and all the details, where not broken, are of exquisite beauty. Observe the N. door with its niches and the W. front. The Church of S. Germain is late and poor flamboyant, much altered in late renaissance times. The springing of the nave vaulting remains, and has been grotesquely finished off with scrolls. There is fine old glass, but in utter confusion, in the E. window. The large window of the S. transept contains fine glass representing the life of the Virgin below and saints and legendary incidents above in a series of 24 subjects.

S. Melaine is the church of a once famous abbey. Transepts and choir-arch are early Romanesque. The nave is 2nd pointed. The base of the tower is early 1st pointed, but has been refaced in the worst taste in baroque times; to this has been added in modern days an octagonal lantern and dome, and to complete the unsightliness and absurdity of the whole composition, the cupola is surmounted by an enormous gilt statue of the B. Virgin. Within may be noted the clumsy junction of the older and newer work in the second arch on the south side. The tracery in the side aisles of the nave has been cut away, but the clerestory windows of one light are delicate and refined. The clerestory of the choir is earlier, the E. wall and window have been reconstructed, and the tracery in the side aisles restored or modern. In the S. transept is a wax figure of S. Severina, whose bones from the Roman catacombs are preserved in this church. This wax figure receives a considerable cult. Adjoining the church is the Thabor with pleasant walks and grounds, on the highest point of the town. The botanical gardens adjoin. The Palais de Justice was begun as the seat of the Parliament of Brittany in 1618 and was completed in 1654. The façade is of the Tuscan order. The decoration of the interior was confided to four eminent artists in the reign of Louis XIV., and it has undergone rich decoration of late years. Rennes possesses good open places, as well as the broad esplanades by the river banks. Its museums and library are also well stored. The picture gallery contains a large collection of paintings, some really good, a Jordæns, a Paul Veronese, and a De Crayer.

Retiers (I.V.) chl. arr. Vitré. Four miles to the S.E. is a menhir called La Pierre de Richebourg.

La Roche-Derrien (C.N.) chl. arr. S. Brieuc, is prettily situated on the Jaudy, at the highest point to which the tide reaches. Of the castle hardly anything remains. The church has a spire of late 13th cent. The S. porch, formerly adorned with statues, is bold. The church has vast double transepts of 1435, and flamboyant windows and extraordinary gargoyles. Inside is a barbarous elaborately carved oak altarpiece of late renaissance and of no merit. La Roche was the scene of the battle fought in 1347, when Charles de Blois was taken prisoner by the English.

Near La Roche is Langoat, the church like a converted railway station, but it contains the tomb of Alma Pompeia, the mother of S. Tugdual, who died in the 6th cent., but the tomb was erected in 1470. She is represented on it recumbent; and at the sides are subjects in bas-relief relative to her story. These have been reproduced in bad modern glass in the E. window. In the church may be seen a statue of S. Tugdual habited as a pope. This is due to a curious blunder. His monks were wont to call him Pabu, or father. A late writer of his legend supposed that this meant that he was papa – the pope, and so fabricated a story to explain it, how that Tugdual went to Rome and arrived when the see was vacant, and was elected pope; how that after a very few years he wearied of the burden, and a flying horse was sent from heaven which conveyed him through the air back to Brittany.

Prat. The Château of Coatelan is a rectangular building of the beginning of the 16th cent., and is an interesting, well-preserved example of a maison forte of the period. Within are some good chimney-pieces. At the top of one of the turrets is an oven for baking bread.

Pommerit Jaudy. On the Coat-nevez, a conical hill, is a camp, probably of the Northmen invaders. The château is mainly of the 16th cent, and has granite chimney-pieces.

Cavan. The church (S. Cheron) is of the 15th cent, and has a spire flanked by two stair-turrets surmounted by domes. This is of 1684.

Berhet. The church (S. Bridget) is modern. The Chapel of N.D. de Confort has flamboyant windows, the tracery in those at the side forms hearts. Within is a carved oak retable representing the Passion, Resurrection and Assumption. In the chapel is a Sant-e-roa, or Holy Wheel, hung with bells, and this is rung during mass, and by pilgrims desirous of calling the B.V. Mary's attention to their petitions. Similar wheels are at Quemperven, Locarn, Laniscat in the Côtes-du-Nord, at S. Nicolas de Prissiac in Morbihan, and at N.D. de Confort, near Pontcroix in Morbihan. P. last Sunday in September.