of the oratory of S. Kirec (Curig) on a rock in the bay, surrounded at
every tide. The pillars and pillasters are of the 11th cent.
_Trégastel._ The village is situated about a mile from the coast,
which is composed of masses of weather-worn granite in strange forms,
among and against which modern residences have been run up for the
accommodation of lodgers during the bathing season. On the highest
point of ground inland a Calvary has been erected of masses of granite
piled up, surmounted by a cross, whence a fine view is obtained of the
coast and the Sept Iles. The Church of Trégastel is of the 13th cent.
with work of the 16th, and a very villainous, debased window at the
east end of the 17th cent. The pretty ossuary adjoining the porch is
renaissance.
[Illustration: CHURCH AND OSSUARY, TRÉGASTEL]
_Pleumeur-Bodou._ Beside the road from the village to Ile Grande is a
fine menhir 24 ft. high, the summit shaped into a cross, and the face
sculptured with the instruments of the Passion. In the _Ile Grande_ is
an allée couverte, composed of fourteen supporters and two coverers.
It is surrounded by a circle of stones. The Chapel of S. Samson is of
the 16th cent. with a spirelet on an octagonal turret. The E. window is
flamboyant.
_Trébeurden._ Nine menhirs within sight of one another. One is a
hundred paces (S.) from the windmill of Trévern, and is 7 ft. high;
another is on the Lande de Véades of the same height; a third is a
hundred paces from this, and is 12 ft. high; a fourth at the Château
de Kerrariou, 7 ft. 6 in. high; a fifth between Kerrariou and the
windmill, broken; a sixth near Bologne, 10 ft. high; a seventh W. of
the preceding and at the edge of the shore, 10 ft. high; the eighth
near Bonne Nouvelle, 7 ft.; the last is near the peninsula of Toënnou,
about the same height. There is a fine dolmen on the Ile Milliau,
measuring 28 ft. long, covered by three slabs on eleven supporters;
another is on the shore at Prajou-menhir, half fallen, 34 ft. long,
composed of twenty-one supporters and four coverers; a third is at
Kevellec, four stones support a single coverer; a fourth in ruins is
near the Chapelle du Christ. The chapel has a lancet window of the 12th
cent. The parish church is very villainous, 1835.
_Trévou-Tréguignec._ Three menhirs in the Ile Balanec, and a partly
ruined dolmen near the modern Château de Boisriou. Seven uprights
support two coverers.
PIPRIAC (I.V.) chl. arr. Redon. A dull, uninteresting place.
_Guipry._ At Fougères is an alignment of seven upright stones. In the
Lande de Godier is an ancient camp. N.D. de Bon-Port, 1644, is resorted
to by pilgrims.
_Saint Just._ On the Lande de Cojoux several megalithic monuments, and
on that of Tréal an allée couverte, called La Grotte aux Fées, 40 ft.
long.
PLANCOET (C.N.) chl. arr. Dinan. Pleasantly situated on the tidal
Argenton, which above the turn flows through a pleasant picturesque
valley. Plancoet (Plou-lann-coet = the Clan of the Church in the Wood),
has a modern vulgar church. In a little lake 3 kilometres from the
town are the scanty remains of the Château de la Tour de la Vache,
13th cent., consisting of one square tower. From Plancoet several
interesting excursions may be made.
_Crehen._ The allée couverte of La Ville-Génouan is 42 ft. long, and is
composed of eleven supporters on the N. and twelve on the S., and five
covering stones. It is the finest example in the Department, and is in
private grounds.
_Landebia._ The church has been restored. It possesses a curious
bénitier of granite supported by human figures, and has animals carved
on the bowl. A house has a fine portal of the 16th cent. A Calvary
of the same date with several groups of figures. Another cross dated
1545, called la Croix de S. David. In the village is a house called
Presbytère des Templiers.
The visitor will probably start from Landebia to visit the Château _de
la Hunaudaye_ in the parish of Plédeliac. The ruins of this magnificent
castle are extensive. The castle dates from 1578, except one tower that
is over a century earlier. It is a pentagon flanked by five towers
at the angles, and surrounded by deep ditches. Why so strong a pile
should have been planted where the ground does not in any way lend
itself to defence is hard to see. The state hall and staircase were
especially fine, but are far gone in ruin. The earliest tower has about
the entrance from the court some rude carvings, executed perhaps by a
prisoner on the jamb of the door on which light fell. The date of this
carving is early 17th cent. Near the hamlet of Hazardine is a coarse
menhir 16 ft. high and 30 ft. in circumference. The ruins of the Abbey
of Saint Aubin des bois are scanty. The chapel is of the end of the
15th cent.
PLEINE-FOUGÈRES (I.V.) chl. arr. S. Malo. Destitute of interest.
PLÉLAN LE PETIT (C.N.) chl. arr. Dinan. On high bleak country, mostly
moor and only partially reclaimed.
PLÉNEUF (C.N.) chl. arr. S. Brieuc, reached from Lamballe. In the
parish is the favourite seaside resort of Val-André. Except the sea and
the coast, there is nothing of interest at Pléneuf.
_Erguy._ An old Roman station, Rheginea, and numerous substructures
of Gallo-Roman times have been uncovered here, also a mosaic pavement
found and destroyed in 1835 by the boor to whom the land belonged.
Numerous finds of Roman coins are made here. At the northern headland
of the Lande de la Garenne is a prehistoric coast castle.
_Planguenoual._ The church is partly Romanesque, partly 13th cent.
The bénitier shows signs of having been systematically employed as a
knife-sharpener.
* PLESTIN LES GRÈVES (C.N.) chl. arr. Lannion. Fine sands. The tide
recedes here to a great distance. Plestin (Plou-Jestin) owes its origin
to an Irish emigrant Efflam, who settled here with a colony of his
countrymen in the 6th cent. He found that a British settler was there
before him, Jestin, probably the son of Geraint, prince of Devon. He
came to terms with him without a quarrel, the arrangement being that
one should rule the secular and the other the ecclesiastical tribe.
Plestin before this would seem to have been a Gallo-Roman town, as
numerous remains as well as coins indicate. The church, much altered,
contains the tomb of S. Efflam, of the 16th cent. The porch is of 1575,
and contains statues of the twelve apostles. The Chapel of S. Jacut of
the 16th cent. has some old glass. Near the Chapel of S. Efflam (1620)
is his Holy Well.
_Plou Miliau_ was the plebs or tribal land of Miliau, King of
Cornouaille, who was murdered by his brother Rivold. The church is in
debased Gothic of 1602.
_Plouzélambre._ The church is of the 15th and 16th cents., with
flamboyant windows. The tower of 1753. In the church a fine renaissance
carved oak retable, with seven groups of figures on it, representing
scenes of the Passion. In the churchyard a pretty ossuary of granite
of the 17th cent. An oratory, consisting of a vault sustained by four
columns, is called Le Réposoir. Ruins of the Château of Kerbané of the
15th cent.
_Trédez._ A menhir 13 ft. high, with another near it that has fallen,
that measured 24 ft. Near the Château de Coatredrez another, 19 ft.
high. At Lan Saliou another of about the same height. In the church is
a triptych representing a Jesse tree. The font has a fine baldachino of
carved oak, of the 17th cent. The Chapel of Loquémeau is of the 16th
cent., except one window in the N. transept, of the 14th. The frieze
within is fantastically carved.
_Trémel._ A menhir at Kerguiniou, 16 ft. high, and near by a dolmen.
The church is of the 16th cent., with apse; the porch has within
statues of the apostles.
_Plufur._ Church of 1764; but it retains remains of a retable of
the 16th cent. Sculptured scenes in relief of the Passion. In the
churchyard is the Chapel of S. Yves, 17th cent., with paintings on the
ceiling. The Chapel of S. Nicolas forms a latin cross, and has seven
flamboyant windows.
_S. Michel-en-Grèves._ The Chapel of S. Geneviève has an early rude
altar, and remains of a 16th cent. screen.
PLEYBEN (F.) chl. arr. Châteaulin. The noble church (S. Germain) of
1564 exhibits the transition from Gothic to Italian style. The church
is regarded as one of the most beautiful ecclesiastical monuments
in Finistère. From whatever point of view seen, the grouping of the
towers, though so different in character, is most pleasing. The
principal tower is tall and square, with a balustrade to the platform
on the summit, and on this platform rises a cupola crowned by a
lantern, and there are four lesser lanterns at the corners. The tower
exhibits the renaissance style fully developed, yet it was constructed
only twenty years after the rest of the church, which is instinct with
Gothic feeling. The second tower was raised in 1588-91, and is in the
late flamboyant style. It is graceful and quaint. The stair to the
bellcage is carried up in a turret detached save for a flying gallery
supported on a couple of arches. The fine porch dates from 1588-91,
and contains statues of the apostles. It is surrounded by a cordon of
niches, shallow but lofty, and forming an exterior enrichment. The
statuary is stiff, but not without character. The east end of the
church is an apse, with gables over the windows, which are flamboyant.
That over the high altar contains old glass representing the story of
the Passion, 1564. The wooden waggon roof of the church is supported on
a cornice quaintly carved. A curious little box for the holy oils is in
the sacristy. The ossuary of Pleyben is the earliest in the Department;
separate from the church. It belongs to the 16th cent. The Calvary of
1650 consists of four great spurs sustaining a central platform on
vault and arches. The platform is crowded with figures in 28 groups,
representing the scenes of the Nativity and the Passion, and, above
all, as the 29th, is the Crucifixion. The Chapel of Lannelec, two
kilometres distant, is in itself uninteresting, but contains curious
statues and sculptures. The P. at Pleyben is on the 1st Sunday in
August.
* PLOERMEL (M.) chl. d'arr. The town stands but a little distance
from the pretty lake of Le Duc, surrounded with trees. It occupies
rising ground and has in its midst a magnificent church (1511-1602)
chiefly remarkable for its collection of 16th century glass. This
represents--1. Jean l'Epervier, Bishop of S. Malo, kneeling before the
B.V.M. and S. Michael; 2. dated 1533 is Pentecost, a superb piece of
colouring; 3. the Life of S. Armel; 4. a Jesse tree, the finest of all;
5. the Passion; 6. the Death and Assumption of the B.V.M.; 7. a window
of 1602 contains diverse subjects; and 8. the Last Supper. Beside these
old windows some modern glass is "a thing to shudder at not to see."
Indeed the French do not seem in glass painting to have got beyond
the crude stage of English beginnings forty years ago. The church
is throughout flamboyant, except the west tower. Under an enormous
arch, that includes a flamboyant window, is a double entrance to the
N., with rich figure carving over it representing sacred subjects,
the Annunciation, the Nativity, and the Flight into Egypt, etc. But
the buttress on the W. was carved when the religious Gothic feeling
was dead, and it is covered with renaissance sculpture, where only
buffoonery and paganism find expression. Syrens, monsters, a cobbler
sewing up his wife's mouth, a woman pulling off her husband's hat, a
sow playing a bagpipe, two nude figures, one on the back of the other,
each blowing a horn, etc., form the decoration. At a little distance
from the town on the Vannes road, about a hundred yards on one side in
a pretty situation, is the Holy Well of S. Armel, of the 17th cent.
Ploermel is the headquarters of the Frères Lammenais, who carry on the
religious instruction of the boys in almost every parish in Brittany,
and in other parts of France as well, and the colonies, in opposition
to the godless governmental schools. From Ploermel the visitor will
probably go on to Josselin, _which see_.
PLOEUC (C.N.) chl. arr. S. Brieuc. Several menhirs, but some of them
are broken. The church is of 1752. Ploeuc lies high.
_Plaintel._ A remarkable menhir 15 feet high planted point downward.
Church of 1759.
PLOUAGAT (C.N.) chl. arr. Guingamp, near Châtelaudren. In the
churchyard a Christian lech bearing the inscription VORMVNI. Ruins of
the priory of N.D. des Fontaines, some portions of which go back to
Romanesque, but the major portion belongs to the 15th cent.
_Goudelin._ The Chapel of N.D. de l'Ile was founded in the 15th cent.
and contains a statue of S. Eligius dressed in Breton _bragou-bras_.
_Lanrodic._ Le Vieux Château de Perrun is a good example of a camp,
probably of the Northmen invaders and devastaters of Brittany or of the
Merovingians. The embankment was revetted with blocks of quartz not set
in mortar. The new château is a fine mediæval ruin. It is surrounded by
a deep moat and possesses a cylindrical tower with machicolation. All
the rest of the original castle has disappeared, but in the midst of
the court is a château built at the time of the renaissance, but that
was burnt and gutted at the Revolution. It has, however, preserved its
façade and some of its fine chimney-pieces. Among the fallen masses of
sculpture may be seen a fragment of a verse of Virgil. "Quid pius Æneas
tanto dabit indole dignum."
_S. Pever._ Ruins of the Château of Avauguer on a promontory above the
Trieux and the lake. The chapel is of the 13th and 14th cents. and
contains remains of an alabaster retable of the 16th cent.
* PLOUARET (C.N.) chl. arr. Lannion, at the junction of the branch
line to Lannion. A prettily situated little town in a well-wooded
country and with charming walks about it up the rocky broom-covered
valleys. The neighbourhood teems with objects of interest, and it
makes excellent headquarters for interesting excursions. The church is
curious. It consists of nave and side-aisles all under one enormous
roof and lighted through aisle windows under gables. It is flamboyant
and has a square E. end that contains a fine window of geometric
tracery, but not of 2nd pointed date, apparently, judging from the
stiffness and lack of skill in the treatment. It looks like an attempt
of a flamboyant architect to revive the earlier style. The tower is
dated 1554, when it was begun, but in style it is later, and is an
admirable example of a renaissance tower at its best period. The
mountain, visible to the south is the _Menezbré_, from the top of which
the Seven Saints cursed Conmore, with the result that the Usurper of
Domnonia was deserted on all sides as one "fey" and was killed in 555.
_Loquivy-Plougras._ The fine Chapel of S. Emilion, the largest example
of its kind in the Department, is of the 16th cent. It was begun in
1516 and the tower added in 1566.
For the beautiful chapel of _Keramanachx_, _see_ under _Plonevez
Moedec_, and for _Tonquedec_, _see_ Lannion.
_Trégrom._ At Keranscot is a menhir 19 feet high called Menbras. At
300 paces from it is another 10 feet high. The church (S. Brendan
of Clonfert) has been judiciously restored. It is 2nd pointed and
is very prettily situated. The S. aisle was intended to be vaulted,
but only the vaulting shafts remain. The S. porch has good 2nd
pointed mouldings, and over it is an interesting statue of the Irish
traveller-saint who discovered Madeira and the Canaries. The W. turret
is for two bells. A quaint four-light square-headed window lights the
baptistery. Brendan was forced to leave Ireland, owing to his having
accidentally caused the death of a pupil, and he spent seven years in
exile. Following the sun at midsummer, he reached Iceland, but did not
remain there. The story of his voyages was embroidered by fancy, and
converted into an Irish version of Sinbad the Sailor; but the greater
part of his time of exile was spent in Brittany, where he founded
two monasteries, one on the isle of Cézambre opposite S. Malo, and
the other in the land of Heth, the site of which is not determined,
but it was probably _Lanvellec_, which is also dedicated to him. The
church there is modern, but in the churchyard is an elegant 16th cent.
ossuary. Near the road from Plouaret to Keramanach is the curious
chapel of _S. Carré_, built in 1697. It is a typical example of the
period, all the detail is Italian, but the Gothic feeling is present
in the main lines. E. of it is the Holy Well of the same period, well
preserved. The P. at S. Carré is on Whitsunday.
_Vieux Marché._ The church is a huge modern flamboyant structure,
successful except for the mean, pinched tower. The flamboyant doorway
of the original church has been inserted at the west end of the new
church, and some quaint carvings are preserved at the N. doorway. A
pretty walk up the glen of about three miles leads to the chapel of the
Sept-Saints, a cruciform structure erected in 1702, with a S. transept
over a dolmen that serves as crypt, and with an altar in it to the
Seven Sleepers. At S. Marcel at some little distance from Plouaret is a
mutilated statue of a Roman horseman trampling on a half human monster,
that receives a religious cult. Although the heads have been knocked
off, and the clergy set their faces strongly against this devotion, the
peasantry still have recourse to the image. Those paralysed are hoisted
upon the back of the horse, and quite as well authenticated cases of
cure are produced there as at some of the approved shrines.
PLOUBALAY (C.N.) chl. arr. Dinan. Modern church. Ruins of the Château
de Crochais.
_S. Jacut-de-la-Mer._ The site of an ancient abbey founded by Gwethenoc
and Jacut, brothers of S. Winwaloe, at the beginning of the 6th cent.
The brothers in Breton mythology replaced the Heavenly Twins of classic
mythology, and were wont to be seen when invoked steering a vessel
that was in danger of being overwhelmed and wrecked at sea. The abbey
was given over in commendam to favourites at court, and the few monks
left in it without supervision led such idle and worthless lives that
the feeling of the country was roused against them, and when the
Revolution broke out, the peasants tore down the monastery to its very
foundations so as to leave of it no trace whatever. There is now a
conventual establishment at S. Jacut that receives boarders for the
bathing season. The tower of Ebihens on an island was built in 1697.
_Trégon._ An allée couverte called Les Vielles Hautières is near
the high road, and is 48 ft. long. Fourteen uprights sustain seven
capstones. About 400 paces from this is a fallen dolmen. A vulgar
modern church takes the place of an early Romanesque structure.
_Château de Guildo._ The old Castle is a ruin, in which Gilles de
Bretagne was playing a game of tennis when snatched away, by order of
his brother, Francis I., to be starved to death at La Hardouinais.
* PLOUDALMEZEAU (F.) chl. arr. Brest. The church was rebuilt in 1857,
but the tower remains of 1775. Ploudalmezeau is in the old Pays d'Ach,
and the British refugees swarmed hither, landing in the estuaries of
the Aber Vrach, Aber Benoit, and the Aber Iltut. P. of S. Bridget, 15th
August.
_Lampaul Ploudalmezeau._ Remains of an allée couverte, and by the
roadside from Ploudalmezeau a menhir trimmed into shape and surmounted
by a cross between two others of very early character. The church (S.
Pol de Léon) is very charmingly situated among trees, and the tower
is not of the type of renaissance so common. It more resembles that
of Pleyben, and is remarkably well proportioned and dignified. It
has a gallery above the porch, another at the summit of the tower,
and curious flying buttresses support the turrets at the angles, and
a cupola in the centre surmounted by a lantern on three stages. The
church itself is late flamboyant. The porch is wide and enriched with
Ionic pillars, within it is vaulted, and the groins meet in a pendant.
A curious statue in the S. transept represents the Virgin and child.
She is trampling on the Devil, who tauntingly upholds the fatal apple.
Good metal-work encloses the baptistery. The N. aisle has been rebuilt.
There is a Holy Well, but without character, in the churchyard.
_Landunevez._ La Four is a rock rising 200 ft. above the sea, and is
supposed to indicate the point where the Ocean begins and the Channel
ends. Fine ruins of the castle of Trémazan, where was born Tanguy du
Châtel, who died 1449. He was one of the Generals of Charles VI. and
Charles VII. After the Battle of Agincourt, things did not run as
smoothly as represented by Shakespeare. The French Court was torn by
factions. At the head of one was Jean sans Peur, Duke of Burgundy; at
the head of the other the Armagnacs, the partisans of the Dauphin. In
place of combining against the victorious English, they were engaged in
murderous affrays between themselves. One night the Burgundians fell on
and slaughtered the Armagnacs in the streets of Paris, and the Dauphin
was only saved by Tanguy du Châtel, who smuggled him off to Milan. The
Constable of France and the Chancellor were both murdered, and the
massacre lasted three days. Richard, fourth brother of Duke John V. of
Brittany, at great risk secreted and carried off Marie d'Anjou, wife
of the Dauphin. The Duke of Brittany entered Paris and put a term to
the horrors that were being perpetrated. Meanwhile the English were
advancing, and burning the towns on their march. At length the Duke of
Burgundy and the Dauphin agreed to meet and come to terms at Montereau.
But no sooner were they face to face than they burst into mutual
recrimination. This so exasperated Tanguy, that with an axe he split
the skull of the Duke. This fresh crime threw the Burgundians into the
arms of the English. The war was concluded by the Treaty of Amiens,
1423. At Landunevez are a dolmen, and at Argenton a menhir 18 ft. high.
Patronal feast 3rd Sunday in Sept., P. of Kersaint Ascension Day and
Aug. 15th; P. of S. Gonvel, 2nd Sunday in Sept., and P. of S. Samson,
3rd Sunday in July.
_Plourin._ The church (S. Budoc) is entirely modern, but excellent,
the tower and spire are specially well proportioned. The E. flamboyant
window is very good. Two old picturesque houses are near the church.
Within the church is the pulpit from the old church of carved oak
representing scenes from the legend of S. Azenore and her son Budoc. At
Kergraden are two menhirs, one 30 ft. high, the other 24 ft. P. Sunday
nearest to Aug. 7.
_Plouguin._ Modern church. The château of Lesven possesses a painting
over the altar in which is represented S. Gwen, her three breasts
disguised by the central breast being made into a gilded disc, dressed
in the costume of a lady of the beginning of the 17th cent. presenting
her son Winwaloe to S. Corentin, who gives him the habit. Fragan,
husband of Gwen Teirbron, is also represented in the painting as a
knight in armour. The parish takes its name from Gwen, and her husband
gives his name to the neighbouring parish of S. Fragan. In a marsh are
the ruins of an oratory, where, according to local tradition, Winwaloe
as a child practised the ascetic life. For _Lanrivoaré_ see S. Rénan.
PLOUESCAT (F.) chl. arr. Morlaix. A menhir, 21 ft. high.
_Plounevez Lochrist._ In this parish is the interesting chapel of
Lochrist with its 13th cent. tower, bold and massive, and surmounted
by a spire very different in character from the flimsy barley-sugar
constructions of the 16th cent. and the beginning of the 17th. The
chapel itself is modern.
PLOUGUENAST (C.N.) chl. arr. Loudéac. New and bad parish church,
but happily the old one has been left, and contains some old glass,
representing the Crucifixion, Entombment, and Pentecost. The altar
rails are made out of the old roodloft gallery front, and bear
representations of the apostles. Chapel of the Rosary 16th cent.
Château de Touche Brondineuf, a stronghold of the 15th cent.