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Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The cross of Brogard, also known as Fourbihan Calvary, is a monumental cross erected in the 16th century in the municipality of La Turballe, in the Loire-Atlantique region of Pays de la Loire. Its name comes from Breton Brogard ("the cairn hill") and Fourbihan ("the small oven"). It recalls the parish enclosures of the Finistère by its architectural style, with a Christ under a dais, surrounded by the Virgin, Mary Magdalene, and a Virgin with the Child on the reverse. The figures of Saint Laurent (with his grill) and Saint Stephen (holding a palm) complete the iconography.

Damaged by a storm in 1899, the cross was restored thanks to the initiative of the inhabitants of the neighbourhoods of Brogard and Fourbihan. She stands on Place du Poulloué, once a collective pond ("bubble") where women washed their clothes. Today, this square is equipped with parking. The cross has been listed as a historic monument since 1925, highlighting its heritage value.

The Trescalan district, where it is located, concentrated 60% of the monumental crosses of La Turballe, often placed at crossroads, near manor houses or churches. These crosses served as spiritual and community landmarks. The Brogard cross is also represented in a work by Auguste Bellanger (1902), Convoi mortuary in Trescalan, preserved at the Batz-sur-Mer Salt Marsh Museum.

His inscription in the collection Croix et Calvaires de Bretagne (1949) highlights his "ordinary style with grouped figures", typical of the Breton crosses of the 16th century. Christ is described there with horizontal arms, sheltered under a pediment supported by braces, while the local saints recall the popular devotions of the time.

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