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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Saint-Pierre de Saint-Pol-de-Léon church, located in the Finistère, is a Catholic building whose construction begins at the end of the 14th century and continues in the 15th century, especially for the choir and the south wall of the nave. The church, originally in the shape of a cross, lost its lateral wings, retaining only its medieval nave as the oldest part. In the 18th century, it was thoroughly redesigned with a reconstruction of the façade and bell tower in 1772 by entrepreneur Nicolas Saffray, in a baroque style. In the 19th century, major works concerned the structure and cover (1875-1876), as well as the addition of a guard house in the adjacent cemetery, designed by architect Puyo between 1875 and 1878.

The building houses notable architectural elements, such as pillars similar to those of the Kreisker chapel, and a nave with low side covered with a single descending roof, typical of the Breton churches of the time. The stained glass windows, made by Le Bihan in 1974, replace older bays, some of which were decorated with radiant fillings. Inside, funerary fires, including one carrying the arms of the Pontantoull family, are alongside ancient statues of the Virgin and of Saint Madeleine. The adjoining cemetery, surrounded by a wall of inscribed enclosure, preserves nine Gothic ossuary of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, witnesses to local funeral practices.

The church was listed as a historic monument in 1997, including the cemetery, its ossuary and its guardian's house. It was historically linked to the Brotherhood of the Trépassés in 1533, also serving as a place of prayer for retired priests of the diocese. The cemetery, once equipped with four keranton statues and several chapels today destroyed, also houses a monument to the dead of 1919, the first of Finistère, made by René Quillivic and Charles Chaussepied. This monument is part of a 19th century ensemble comprising a calvary and a cross path carved by Larhantec, illustrating the Passion in this iconic local material.

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