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Origin and history

The chapel Notre-Dame de Kernitron, located in Lanmeur in Finistère, is a religious building dating back to the 12th century, with major changes in the 14th and 15th centuries. It presents a Latin cross plan, with a Romanesque nave arched in painted wood cradle, a transept surmounted by a square bell tower, and Gothic elements like a flamboyant rose on the west facade. Its southern porch, decorated with a tympanum representing Christ in majesty surrounded by the symbols of the Evangelists, bears witness to its artistic and spiritual importance.

According to legend, the foundation of the church would be attributed to Saint Sansom (or Samson), bishop of Dol in the sixth century, to whom Judual, Count of Domnonaeus, would have offered the parish of Lanmeur around 550. The first building, destroyed during Norman invasions at the end of the ninth century, was replaced by a building mentioned in papal bubbles of 1163 and 1188. These documents confirm the existence of an ecclesia Sanctae Mariae, probably linked to a priory dependent on the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Jacut-de-la-Mer. The current chapel preserves traces of this Romanesque period, especially in its nave and its broken arcades.

The changes of the 14th and 15th centuries marked the architectural evolution of the monument. The bedside, rectangular with a north side chapel and a south side, probably dates back to the 14th century, while elements such as the west gable porch and a sill bay, added in the mid-15th century, reflect the flamboyant Gothic style. An inscription in Gothic letters, now partially illegible, mentioned the years 1444 or 1446, indicating work at that time. The west façade, with its protruding porch and pink window, as well as the round staircase tower flanking the bell tower, illustrate this transformation phase.

After the Revolution, the buildings of the priory adjoining the chapel, described as "old buildings divided into small cells", were demolished. These buildings, located north of the church and communicating with it by two doors now walled in the transept, disappear from the landscape. In the 20th century, several restoration campaigns preserved the building: reconstruction of the North Gable in 1933-34, consolidation of the transept piles in 1936, and restoration of the nave (1985) and cross tower structures.

Classified as historical monuments by decree of 29 December 1983, the chapel Notre-Dame de Kernitron is now owned by the municipality of Lanmeur. It is distinguished by its blend of Romanesque and Gothic styles, its carved decorations (chapitals, tympanum), and its historical role as a pilgrimage site and former priory. Its fence wall, included in the classification, as well as its entrances, underline its heritage importance in the Breton religious landscape.

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