by a ridge of granite that runs to the east and is crowned at its W.
termination by the beautiful Chapel of Notre Dame, and by a windmill
at the E. termination. In Lamballe are some picturesque old houses,
and there is a haras for the improvement of the breed of horses in
Brittany. The town possesses three churches, one of which is Notre
Dame, and was a chapel of the counts of Penthièvre, and is by far the
finest in the town, but it is now only occasionally that divine service
is performed in it.
The parish church of S. Jean is of the late middle pointed style,
1425, with an octagonal tower of 1420 at the base, but much later at
the crown. The church has been atrociously mutilated, all the tracery
cut out of the windows in the 18th cent. to be replaced by an iron
framework to sustain the glass. The Church of S. Martin was of early
Romanesque of the beginning of the 11th cent., but the arches to the
east show the beginning of the pointed style. The S. transept possesses
a good middle pointed geometric window. The tower was begun in 1551 and
became purely renaissance before completion. The quaint wooden porch
was added in 1519.
The Church of Notre Dame is a magnificent structure, and richly repays
a close study. The most ancient portions are the N. transept, with
lancet windows, the noble gateway and the W. front, together with the
arcade of the nave. But the side aisles are late flamboyant. The choir
and S. transept were erected by Charles de Blois and are admirable
examples of 2nd or middle pointed architecture at its very best. The
choir is vaulted but not the nave. To sustain the vault on the S. side
are buttresses within the church forming side chapels and pierced
with delicate tracery. There is a double triforium. The choir has a
square end lighted by a noble E. window, very tall and of only four
lights. The clustered pillars on the S. side of the choir and the piers
sustaining the central tower are remarkably fine. There is a little
flamboyant screen with a renaissance organ-case above it in the S.
aisle of the choir.
_S. Aaron._ On the Lande du Chêne-hut is an allée couverte composed of
13 stones, three of which are coverers, and two others lie in the soil.
The whole is 30 feet long.
_Meslin._ Five allées couvertes on the Lande du Gras. One is in the
middle of the Lande, one just below the mill, a third in the Champ des
Caves, a fourth at Bourdonnais. In the Lande du Gras is a menhir 10
feet high.
* LANDERNEAU (F.) chl. arr. Brest. An excellent centre for many
interesting excursions. The town is commercial and thriving. It
possesses a few old houses and a quaint mill. The Church of S. Houardon
has been rebuilt, but the beautiful tower and superb porch have been
preserved. The date of the porch is 1604, and the tower is of much the
same date. Landerneau was a great artistic centre in the 16th and 17th
cents., and its architects and sculptors erected the splendid work
in the Elorn valley and the region around. The style they created is
very original and deserves attention. They delighted in adorning the
churches with noble porches, bold, and often with the gable crowned
with a spirelet. Within, niches hold statues of the twelve apostles.
When all other detail is Italian, the foliage remains of flamboyant
character. The second church in Landerneau is that of S. Thomas à
Becket, 1607, small and uninteresting. To the W. is an ossuary of 1632
converted into a habitation. The valley of the Elorn presents many
scenes of considerable beauty. The rocks are of white quartz breaking
through the leafy covert of the hills.
_Pencran._ A steep ascent of a mile leads to this very interesting
church, with fine porch and two calvaries and a spire. The date of the
porch is 1553. The sculpture here in Kersanton stone is peculiarly rich
and delicate. Among the groups of figures may be distinguished Adam and
Eve, and the serpent, the expulsion from Paradise, Cain and Abel, Adam
delving whilst Eve spins, the Ark and the drunkenness of Noah. In the
tymphanum is the Nativity, much mutilated. Within the church are the
Descent from the Cross and the Mater dolorosa, groups carved in 1517.
_La Roche Maurice._ In a most picturesque situation, the church
embowered in trees on a height above the river, and a ruined castle
on a rock of white quartz. The castle belonged to the dukes of Rohan
whose eldest sons bore the title of Princes de Léon, on account of the
large family possessions in Léon. The church has a slim tower with
double galleries and two sets of open bell cages, and is an excellent
typical example of a style very common in the Department of Finistère.
Its date is 1589. The porch with some fine foliage in Kersanton stone
is of 1530-40. In the churchyard is a good ossuary of 1640. On it is
represented Death darting at all sorts and conditions of men, with the
inscription "Je vous tue tous." At the entrance to the churchyard are
three pillars that support the cross of Christ and the two thieves.
Within the church the magnificent east window with its stained glass of
1539 at once arrests the eye. It represents the story of the Passion
and reproduces that in S. Mathieu at Quimper, and that in the church
of Tourch. After the stained glass, the screen attracts attention. It
is renaissance and is the sole example left in its proper position
in a parish church in the dioceses of Léon and Quimper. P. Ascension
Day. But at Pontchrist, a ruined renaissance church by the river in a
picturesque situation, on the 4th S. in July.
_La Martyr._ This was the scene of the murder of Solomon, King of
Brittany, in 874. Solomon had assassinated his cousin Erispoe, who was
king, before the altar of the church of Penpont, and so won the crown
for himself. He was a contemptible creature. He proceeded to buy off
the Northmen and to promise to pay tribute to Charles the Bald, and
undertook to undo all the ecclesiastical organisation formed by Nominoe
and surrender the jurisdiction over the Breton sees to the Archbishop
of Tours, if the Pope would absolve him of the murder. But this was
too much for the Bretons to endure, they rose in revolt, headed by
Pasquitien, son of the assassinated king, and Solomon, finding himself
deserted on all hands, fled with his son towards the coast, hoping to
take refuge in England. But he was overtaken where is now La Martyr,
where he had taken sanctuary in the church, dragged forth along with
the boy and both were killed (874). For some unaccountable reason the
Bretons have regarded this despicable murderer as a saint. The tower of
the church belongs to the 13th cent. The entrance to the churchyard
is by a triumphal arch adorned with statuary. This is the earliest
of the kind in the country and belongs to the 16th cent. The porch
is remarkable for its style and for the delicacy and richness of the
sculpture. It belongs to the latter part of the 15th cent. The ossuary
is of 1619 and is attached to the porch. The interior of the church is
of the 14th cent. It had originally a fine screen in Kersanton stone,
that has been destroyed, but the basement of the parclose screens
remains. Four stained windows of 1567 represent the Passion, the
Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Noli me tangere, the apparition of
the risen Christ to His mother, and the Ascension. Also the death,
assumption and coronation of the Virgin, and a Jesse tree. The Duke and
Duchess of Rohan are represented as the donors. The church possesses a
magnificent reliquary of the renaissance period. P. on the 2nd S. in
July. A great horse fair follows, lasting three days.
_S. Divy._ This church possesses a ceiling painted with a series of
subjects from the life of S. David. P. Sunday after Ascension and 2nd
S. in September.
_Dirinon_ (S. Nonna). The name signifies the steps of Nonna. The church
stands on very high ground. It is in the usual style of transition
between flamboyant and renaissance (1588-93). A chapel in the
churchyard contains the tomb of S. Nonna, mother of S. David, and wife
of Sandde, grandson of Ceredig, who drove the Irish out of S.W. Wales
and gave its name to Cardigan. The tomb, however, is a work of the 15th
cent. At a little distance from the village is her well (1623). At the
further end of the village is that of S. David. P. 2nd S. after Trinity.
_Plougastel._ The costumes of this district are very picturesque.
The men wear blue or violet jackets and three waistcoats and sashes.
The church is modern, but in the churchyard is a marvellous Calvary
(1602-4) consisting of an arcade under a platform crowded with statues,
and a frieze surrounds it, carved with subjects in bas-relief. P. at
La Fontaine Blanche, Easter Monday and the 15th August; at S. Jean on
the 24th June. By the Chapel of S. Guénolé is a rude stone, against
which barren women rub themselves in the hope of becoming mothers.
* LANDIVISIAU (F.) chl. arr. Morlaix. A small town on the high
road from Morlaix to Brest. It forms an excellent starting point for
several interesting excursions. The church is modern, but has a tower
and spire of 1590, partaking of the fault of all those in Léon and
Cornouailles of this period. It is thin and pinched. The date of the
superb porch is 1554. It is an interesting study, as it serves as a
link between those of pure flamboyant and such as are true renaissance.
About the great arch are subjects from the Old Testament. Within are
the twelve apostles; the corbels supporting them are curious and
varied; symbolical. For instance, one represents two drunken soldiers
carrying off two girls, one carrying a mirror, another a sceptre,
signifying that damsels with vanity or arrogance fall an easy prey. In
the cemetery outside the town is an ossuary, date about 1620. In the
town is the Holy Well of S. Divisiau, almost buried among houses. It
supplies a large public washing basin. Two ranges of an arcade surmount
it, containing ten panels that have come from some tomb of the 16th
cent. Landivisiau, with its comfortable hotel, is a good starting-place
for excursions to places where the accommodation is not all that could
be desired.
[Illustration: CALVARY AND OSSUARY, S. THÉGONNEC]
_S. Thégonnec._ This place is richly deserving of a visit with its
church, and churchyard overcrowded with piles of granite, Calvary
and ossuary and triumphal arch. The last mentioned is of 1587 and
is cumbrous but effective. These triumphal arches first made their
appearance at the close of the Gothic period. This is wholly Italian in
character. The ossuary adjoins it and belongs to a later period, but
is far purer in design, 1676-7. The façade is very rich and beautiful.
Within in a crypt is a Holy Sepulchre, life sized figures of 1702.
The Calvary dates from 1610 and represents scenes of the Passion.
The oldest portion of the church is the west doorway with the little
bell-turret rising above it; this dates from 1563. At a later date the
huge tower was erected on the south with a porch in its basement, built
between 1599 and 1610, the statues added in 1632. Above the porch is
the statue of S. Thégonnec (To-quessnac, a disciple of Paul of Léon).
The window tracery is modern and does not faithfully represent the old
tracery. The nave was built in 1777. The furniture of the church is
interesting. The pulpit, though late, is fine. A niche with shutters
painted with scenes from the Saint's life contains a statue of the
patron. Opposite is another statue of the B.V.M. with painted shutters.
The tower is heavy, and the effect of chamfering the angles very
unpleasing. To support the gallery the angles of the tower are very
massive, buttresses are added and between them the wall is reduced,
and the gallery sustained on heavy corbels. The platform is surmounted
by a dome and lantern and little side pepper-boxes. The interior effect
of the church is rich and harmonious in gold and colour, if somewhat
barbaric.
_Locmelar_ is reached by ascending a pretty valley that contains an
affluent of the Elorn. The church is late flamboyant, with apse and
gables. The porch is of the common type of the period and contains
statues of the apostles. There is a Calvary. The tower dates from 1656.
Over a side altar is a painting representing in a series of groups the
legend of S. Hervé, a blind bard saint who contributed greatly to the
downfall of Conmore, acting in conjunction with Gildas and S. Samson.
_Bodilis._ The tower of this church was erected when Gothic
architecture was in its decline. It is surmounted by a spire with
spirelets at the angles rising from a gallery. The porch is of 1570,
and is of unusual beauty. Within are the apostles; below the niches
runs a band of marvellous richness of sculpture and great variety. The
font is surmounted by a baldachin in Kersanton stone of 1680. P. on
Ascension Day.
_S. Servais._ This church has an early renaissance tower with double
galleries and two bell cages, the whole surmounted by a spire and
pinnacles. The body of the church is of the latter half of the 17th
cent. The graveyard cross has sculptured scenes on it, and there is an
ossuary like that at Landivisiau.
_Guimiliau._ Annually numerous tourists visit this village to see its
very remarkable ecclesiastical monuments, its church, porch, sacristy,
calvary, and the little Chapel of Ste. Anne. The porch rivals that of
Bodilis and Landerneau. The doorway into the porch has a series of
biblical scenes in sculpture in the mouldings. The date is 1617. The
voluted keystone alone proclaims the abandonment of Gothic for Italian
architecture. To the west side of the porch is attached an ossuary,
the roof supported by columns. The sacristy was erected in 1683. The
Calvary consists of a mass of masonry, pierced by arches in the angle
buttresses, the whole sustaining a frieze covered with sculptured
figures, and the platform above crowded with statues. The whole
surmounted by the cross with SS. Mary and John at the sides. The groups
are very curious and represent soldiers and peasants of the close of
the 16th cent. The Calvary was erected in 1581. Near the Calvary is
the mortuary chapel of Ste. Anne, 1648. The interior of the church
contains a magnificent baldachino over the font in carved oak; it was
constructed in 1675. The organ case is of much the same date, the
pulpit of 1677. The church possesses two embroidered banners of 1678.
Guimiliau (Vicus Miliai) has as patron Miliau, King of Cornouaille,
who was basely assassinated by his brother Rivold in 537, who also
mutilated his nephew Melor, by amputating a hand and a foot, and
finally by having him murdered by his foster-father, whom he had bribed
to do the deed.
There is a Holy Well of S. Miliau outside the village.
_Lampaul-Guimiliau._ The great tower of this church (S. Paul of Léon)
was founded in 1573, and is very lofty and surmounted by a spire which
has remained incomplete. The porch is fifty years older. Within are the
apostles in very quaint niches. The sculpture of the Holy Water Stoup
and of the inner doorway is remarkably rich. The font is of 1651, and
is surrounded and surmounted by a baldachino of 1650. The pulpit, that
is late, is a fine piece of wood carving. The east end of the choir
terminates in an apse with gables. The Calvary, triumphal arch, and
ossuary belong to 1668. P. 1st S. in May. At the Chapel of S. Anne, S.
after 15th August.
_See also_ Lambader and Plouneour-Menez.
* LANMEUR (F.) chl. arr. Morlaix. The church surmounts a crypt that
is very curious and rude, and is attributed to the 10th cent. In this
crypt was once the tomb of S. Melor (_see under_ Guimiliau), whose
body was transferred in the 9th cent. by refugee Bretons to Amesbury.
There is a fountain in the crypt. Of the upper church only four piers
and a small door belong to the original building. Near the church is
the Romanesque Chapel of Kernitron (12th cent.). It is a cross church
with a bold central tower. Some of the windows are late. The P. of
Kernitron is on the 15th August.
_S. Jean du Doigt_ is a complete and interesting collection of
structures such as were wont to be grouped about a parish church. There
is first the monumental church itself, in the midst of a graveyard
entered by a triumphal arch, a Holy Well, a Calvary, an ossuary, and
an open oratory, where mass is celebrated before an enormous crowd on
the occasion of the Pardon, and, finally, the church possesses a rare
collection of precious ornaments, such as belong to no other parish
in the diocese. The triumphal arch is of the 15th cent. The Holy Well
is in the churchyard, and is a noble renaissance structure composed
of a large basin, with two superposed vessels, from which heads of
angels spout water. The whole is surmounted by a group representing
the Baptism of Christ. Almost in face of this is a pretty oratory of
1574, very elaborately and quaintly sculptured. The tower is surmounted
by spire and spirelets covered with lead. The east end of the church
has in it a noble rose window. At the foot of the tower is an ossuary,
and a second of 1618 is on the S.W. The S. porch has a parvise chamber
above the doorway. The interior is rich, and the inner doorway is
surmounted by a statue of the Baptist in a Gothic niche with wings. The
church was commenced in 1440, and was completed in 1513, so that it
belongs to an excellent period of flamboyant, of which unfortunately
examples are few. Internally the exaggerated height of the pillars
as compared with the arches deserves notice. The treasury is
extraordinarily rich in chalices, reliquaries, and a processional cross
of the 16th cent. A reliquary of the finger of S. John is of 1429. The
P. is on the 24th June, and draws vast crowds of pilgrims. The object
of the cult is a finger of the Baptist, which is supposed to have its
nail pared annually. It was stolen from some chapel in Normandy by
a native of Plougasnou, who successfully conveyed it to his native
village. There is, of course, not a particle of evidence worth a rush
that substantiates the relic as genuine.
_Plougasnou_ has an interesting church on a storm-beaten coast. The
interior is Romanesque, but the exterior dates from 1574. It has a
tower of 1582. A curious Chapel of N.D. de Lorette with caryatides is
shaped like an old Lycian tomb.
_Guimaec._ Here are two cromlechs or stone-circles.
LANNILIS (F.) chl. arr. Brest. The church modern and bad. The tower is
of 1774, in the true Léon style, and interesting as showing to how late
a date the style continued. It has two galleries for four bells, and
spire with ample spirelets. The line is carried on to the sea, where
there is a watering place at _Abervach_. The coast is not remarkable,
but there are good sands.
_Plouguerneau._ On the east is the site of Tolente, a town that was
completely destroyed by the Northmen in 875. P. of Tréminach on 1st
S. after the 10th Aug. P. of S. Cava on the last S. in August; at S.
Michel on the last S. in September.
_Locbrévelaire._ The valley of the Abervach is here pretty. The place
is mainly of interest to the geologist. The whole hill on which
Locbrévelaire stands is composed of Tertiary Oligocene, the ruins of
granite, and is of a spongy nature, full of kaolin and with lumps
and bands of quartz undissolved, and much mica. It is quarried for
road-making, but the quartz alone is of value for that purpose. Almost
certainly below this spongy mass a bed of kaolin would be found. The
church (S. Brevelaire = S. Brendan) lies on one side of the valley in
a lap of the hills, and opposite are the noble woods and park of the
Château de Liscoat. The church contains an arcade of the 11th cent.,
very rude. The S. wall is 17th cent. The tower of the same. There is,
in the churchyard wall, a Holy Well surmounted by a statue of the
Saint. S. Brendan, afterwards Abbot of Clonfert, was forced to leave
Ireland in 520, owing to his having unintentionally caused the death of
one of his pupils, and he spent seven years away from it, during which
time he founded a monastery on the island of Cézambre, opposite S.
Malo, and another in a different part of Brittany. This latter may be
Locbrévelaire.
* LANNION (C.N.) chl. d'arr. A picturesquely situated town on the
Guer that reaches the sea seven kilometres below. The tide reaches
as far as Lannion, and it has a little port. The Church of S. Jean de
Balay consists of a nave and four aisles under one roof, and without
clerestory and without transepts. It is lighted through side windows
under gables. These windows are of various periods. One is of the
14th cent., others of the 16th, and there are instructive examples
of the debased tracery of the 17th. In the market place are some
picturesque old houses. By the river is a fine pile of buildings now
used as a hospital. Particularly noticeable is a rich late window,
an attempt--and an expiring one--to design a rose with flowing and
beautiful tracery. In another twenty or thirty years, as may be seen in
the windows of S. Jean de Balay on the N. side, the skill was wholly
lost. Divided from Lannion by a deep valley is the Church of Brévelenz.
The east part and crypt are Romanesque. There is a good early pointed
porch. An ossuary and a mortuary chapel are in the graveyard. The
pinnacles, one a chimney to the fireplace for heating baptismal water,
at the porch are peculiar.
_Loquivy_ is in a charming situation. The church (S. David) is
interesting. In the churchyard is a noble renaissance fountain, and
outside the graveyard a Holy Well, flamboyant, surmounted by a statue
of the patron saint of Wales. The church is of the 16th cent. An old
carved oak retable representing the Adoration of the Magi and a crowd
of other figures is in the baptistery.
_Ploubezre._ The church was rebuilt in 1851, but the fine tower is of
1577. Within have been preserved two Romano-byzantine capitals from
the old church, and one window of the 14th cent. remains. The chapel
of _Kerfons_ is flamboyant, and is in the form of a T. One of the
gables bears the date 1559. The magnificent roodscreen is of 1533.
It is a beautiful example of good flamboyant work, with apostles and
other figures on the gallery on one side, and tracery on the other. The
castle of _Coetfrec_ occupies the summit of a hill above the Guer. Four
towers remain, and the castle is in a tolerable condition. The court is
looked into by the windows of the state apartments, in one of these, a
fireplace with bold chimney-piece, remains. The Château de _Kergrist_
is a ruin, complete. _Tonquedec_ is another old castle in a most
picturesque situation. On the N. is the donjon, which is reached by a
door high up in the wall. The Chapel of S. Gildas is of 15th cent.,
with the legend of the Saint within in sculptured oak.
LANVOLLON (C.N.) chl. arr. S. Brieuc. Reached by carrier from
Châtelaudren, is a dull town with one curious old house in it at the
junction of two streets; it is of wood and plaster, the wood covered
with carving. The church (S. Vollon = Foelan) belongs internally to the
14th cent., and has a good E. window, but externally the church has
been sadly maltreated by incompetent "restorers."
* LESNEVEN (F.) chl. arr. Brest. An uninteresting place in itself,
but headquarters to one attending the Pardon at Folgoët. Its fine
halles of the 15th or 16th cent. has been destroyed to make way for a
"place" with a statue in the midst of a General Floh, of bronze. When
this statue was sent down, and the Mayor opened the case, to his dismay
he found it was green. So he set his wife, cook, and house-maid to
sandpaper and scrape it, till it shone as gold, and then had it hoisted
to its pedestal, and it was solemnly unveiled. But the artist, who
beheld it thus burnished, was furious, and complained to the prefêt and
the authorities at Paris, and orders came to the Mayor to take down the
statue and restore to it the green rust. He was obliged accordingly to
re-erect the scaffold and crane, and have General Floh transferred to
his own house again, where he expended some barrels of cider over him
to reinvest him in verdigris. The church is very ugly, but it has a
late renaissance porch in the basement of the tower on the N. side.
The branch line is carried on to _Brignogan_, which is a
watering-place, and where there is a fine menhir 30 ft. high, the most
remarkable in the Department. At _Plounéour-trez_ the church is new,
but the old tower and spire are retained till they also can be pulled
down and replaced by something more in proportion with the new church.
The windows represent scenes in Breton history. The coast is not fine,
the sandy shore slopes very gently into the waves. But the good bathing
is an advantage.