Brittany 26

Brittany 26

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.

 

* ROCHEFORT EN TERRE (M.) chl. arr. Vannes. A picturesquely situated

little town on schist rocks above the Arz. The scenery of the valley

is pleasing and it has become, like Pont-aven, headquarters of artists.

Considerable ruins of the castle exist, and there are several old

houses in the town. Rochefort was never walled in. Nevertheless it

was furnished with gates in the 18th cent. The Church of N.D. de la

Tronchaye having been erected on a slope to the south causes the N.

side to appear buried. This side was altered in 1533. In the choir are

oak stalls of 1590 and 1592. S. Roque, on a height near the town, was

erected in 1527 in consequence of a vow made by the people who were

decimated by a plague. It was ruined at the Revolution, but has been

rebuilt, 1854. A fair is held at Rochefort on the 2nd Tuesday in every

month. Rochefort affords good quarters whence excursions may be made

to visit the prehistoric monuments scattered over the Lande de Lanvaux

and Haut Branbien. The menhirs are for the most part higher than

those of Carnac, but unhappily a great many of them are fallen. These

collections of megalithic remains have never been properly investigated

and planned, and have not been visited like those of Carnac and

Locmariaquer and Erdeven.

 

_Pluherlin_ on the Lande de Haut Branbien, N. of Rochefort, has many of

these strewn over the commune. A menhir 15 feet high is in the Lande

de Lanvaux beside the road to Pleucadeuc. Great havoc has been wrought

throughout this neighbourhood among the churches; the interesting

old structures have been wantonly torn down to make place for the

exhibition of the incompetence of Vannes architects.

 

ROSPORDEN (F.) chl. arr. Quimper. In a pretty situation by a lake

that is, however, traversed by the line from Quimper to Vannes, and

that from Rosporden to Carhaix. The church has a fine tower and

well-proportioned spire of the 13th cent. On the S. side is a porch,

one of the oldest in Finistère. The church contains a rude statue

of Our Lady, much venerated. It was turned out of the church into

the graveyard in 1870, to make way for one more artistic; but the

parishioners rose in indignation and forced the curé to replace it. A

statue of S. Barbara is erected on a fragment of the ancient Calvary

that has been destroyed. P. of S. Eloi, 2nd Sunday in July. Patronal

Feast, Aug. 15.

 

ROSTRENEN (C.N.) chl. arr. Guingamp, on the slope of a hill, with a

great square in the midst, about which are old houses of the 16th and

17th cents. The parish church is modern, but retains a transept of the

14th cent. and a choir and tower of the 18th. The S. porch has in it

statues of the apostles.

 

_Glomel._ The finest menhir in the Department is near the hamlet of

Menhir, and is 25 feet high. Another is in the Bois de Coatcourcaral,

10 feet high. The church is of the 14th cent. with a flamboyant east

window. Side windows under gables. N.D. de Trégernan has lost its

tower, pulled down in 1842. The chapel has some good glass in it and

possesses a Calvary.

 

_Kergrist-Moelo._ The parish church is of the 16th cent., with a square

pinnacled tower and a rich porch of 1554.

 

SAINT AUBIN D'AUBIGNÉ (I.V.) chl. arr. Rennes. On the line from Dol to

Rennes, a place devoid of interest.

 

SAINT AUBIN DE CORMIER (I.V.) chl. arr. Fougères. The church has a nave

of the 14th cent. The rest is of the 16th. This was the scene of the

battle fought in 1488, which dealt the last blow to the independence

of Brittany. The Sire d'Albret at the head of 14,000 men entered the

duchy as one of the suitors for the hand of Anne of Brittany, and he

was supported by Henry VII. of England. Maximilian, King of the Romans,

another pretender, hastened to enforce his claims as well. The King

of France sent an army into the duchy which took Châteaubriant and

Fougères and encountered that of Francis II. of Brittany at S. Aubin on

the 28th July 1488. The French cavalry broke the ranks of the Breton

infantry. Six thousand of these latter fell. The Duke of Orleans,

afterwards Louis XII. and the Prince of Orange were taken prisoners.

They were shut up in a cellar still shown under the Hôtel du Commerce.

 

SAINT BRICE-EN-COGLES (I.V.) chl. arr. Fougères. Here are two châteaux,

one La Roche Portal of the time of Henry IV.

 

* SAINT BRIEUC. Capital of the DEpartment of Côtes-du-Nord. Is a

dull town situated on the Gouet to which a long descent leads and

where is the tidal port. The estuary is between steep hills. The

city is the seat of a bishop. It contains a number of picturesque

old houses of carved wood with plaster between. The cathedral is low

and disappointing externally, but not without dignity within. The

only remains of the earlier church is the wall from the apse to the

transepts that has been pierced to form chapels. In it are half pillars

with capitals of a Romanesque character. The tower of S. Brieuc was

formerly fortified and still preserves its loopholes for bowmen, but

they have been blocked. This is of the 13th cent. The apse is of the

14th cent. with a triforium. The date is 1335-55. The lady-chapel is of

the same period. The fine rose window of the S. transept is of the 15th

cent., so is the Chapel of S. Guillaume, composed of two bays separated

by tall cylindrical pillars without capitals but with the vaulting

ribs springing out of them. The southern tower, with indications of

fortification, belongs to the same century. The rose window between the

towers is of the 16th cent. The stained glass and mural decorations

in the spandrils of the arches of the apse are bad as bad can be. The

organ case is composed of panels dated 1540. The plain leaded windows

are far more pleasing than the garish stuff with which they are being

replaced. In the church is the tomb of S. William, bishop of S. Brieuc.

He was the son of Oliver Pinchon and was born at Saint Alban near

Lamballe. He was elected bishop in 1220, and soon quarrelled with

Pierre Mauclerc, Duke of Brittany, who drove him from his see, and he

was obliged to take refuge at Poitiers. He returned to his diocese in

1230, and at once began the rebuilding of his cathedral, but died in

1234. He was an amiable, harmless man, and very considerate to the poor

and suffering.

 

[Illustration: S. BRIEUC]

 

The chapel and fountain of S. Brieuc, on the height to the N.W., are

flamboyant and picturesque. On the S. side of the altar is a descent

to the cave to which the Saint was wont to retire for prayer. Brioc

was the son of an Irish occupant of Cardigan and a Saxon wife. He was