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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Mézarnou Manor House, located in Plounéventer in Finistère, is an early 16th-century building built on the site of an older feudal building. Sponsored by Yves de Parcevaux and Jeanne de Kerven, it was completed around 1525 and is distinguished by its square plan, its monumental granite staircase, and a flamboyant Gothic decoration particularly rich on the north facade. The manor house, surrounded by moat and a wall, was in the heart of a 17-hectare estate, including a pool, a mill, and a chapel now missing.

During the League wars, the mansion was the scene of violent episodes. On August 1, 1594, Yves du Liscouët, invited by his cousin Hervé de Parcevaux, betrayed him by taking him prisoner, looting the manor house and nearby churches. Hervé de Parcevaux, released after a ransom of ECU 9 500, had to renovate his home by drawing on his other properties. A year later, in 1595, Guy Éder de La Fontenelle took away Marie Le Chevoir, a young heiress aged 9 to 12, daughter of Renée de Coëtlogon, second wife of Hervé de Parcevaux.

In the 17th century, after the return of peace, Hervé de Parcevaux sued the widow of Yves du Liscouët for the looting of 1594, estimated the losses at ECU 70 000. An inventory of 1603 reveals the past opulence of the mansion: silverware, luxurious furniture, and a prosperous agricultural estate with cattle and abundant reserves. The family of Parcevaux, lords of Mézarnou since at least the eleventh century, kept the fief until 1630, when he passed by marriage to the Barbier family. The manor house, classified as a historical monument in 2002, was restored from 2001 after decades of abandonment.

The construction of Mézarnou reflects the Breton seigneurial architecture of the Renaissance, with defensive elements such as moats and luxurious reception spaces. The staircase in screws, one stone per walk, and the monumental chimneys bear witness to the prestige of its owners. The manor house, partially demolished in the 18th century, lost some of its outbuildings, but retained an exceptional legibility of its original interior distribution, including the separation between seigneurial and communal spaces.

The family of Parcevaux, whose members held prestigious offices (Leon's senechaux, councillors in the Parliament of Brittany), marked the history of the mansion. Among them, Pierre de Parcevaux participated in the seventh crusade in 1250, while Yvon de Parcevaux and his son Maurice II contributed to the construction of the current mansion. The seigneury then passed into the hands of bourgeois families in the 18th century, before being sold as a national good during the Revolution.

Today, after centuries of transformation and decline, the Mansion of Mézarnu embodies both the fascist of the Breton nobility of the Renaissance and the violence of the Wars of Religion. Its recent restoration makes it possible to rediscover a major architectural and historical heritage of Finistère, classified and protected for future generations.

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