Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Lantern House, located in Morlaix, is an emblematic historical monument of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries. This rare example of civil architecture made of wood, reserved for the Morlaisian bourgeoisie ( weavers and shipowners), is distinguished by its three-part structure: a street building with a corbelled façade decorated with statues, an inner courtyard illuminated by a glass roof, and a third body connected by wooden footbridges called aisle bridges. The building, classified in 1987, combines granite on the ground floor and wood panels carved on the floors, with ground sandstones and columns decorated.

The courtyard is home to a single-tenant wooden screw staircase, fully open to the outside, whose panel ramps are decorated with towels (sculpted grounds). The central post, carved, ends with a statue of Saint John the Evangelist. The main pieces feature niches with religious statuettes, including the Virgin, St. James, St. Lawrence, St. Nicholas and St.Barbe. This monument illustrates the opulence of the merchant bourgeoisie of Morlaix, mixing residential, symbolic (religious) and practical functions (gateways for internal circulation).

The protection of the so-called lantern house by order of 13 March 1987 underlines its heritage importance. Owned by the municipality, it bears witness to local constructive techniques, such as the use of granite for foundations and wood for floors, as well as the influence of port and textile activities on urban architecture. Its state of conservation makes it an a priori satisfactory example (level 6/10 according to Monumentum) of this heritage, although its exact location (9 or 7 Grande-Rue) is controversial.

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