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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Saint-Envel Church, located in Loc-Envel in the Côtes-d'Armor (Bretagne), is a 16th-century Catholic religious building in a flamboyant Gothic style. It is distinguished by its rich interior decoration in carved wood, intact since its creation, and its stained glass windows narrate the legend of Saint Envel, a sixth century hermit who founded a hermitage on this site. The monument, classified as Historic Monuments in 1911, once belonged to Benedictines of the Abbey of Saint-Jacut.

According to oral tradition, Saint Envel, celebrated on December 11, left the island of Brittany with his sister Jûna and his brother Envel le Petit to settle in Armorique. The three hermits built shelters forming a triangle near Coat-an-Noz wood. Legend has it that Envel tamed a wolf and ordered Guic to shut up to hear his sister's bell. These accounts, absent from ancient texts, are transmitted by the church's stained glass windows.

The present building, built in the 16th century, replaces a medieval church attested as early as 1163 as a priory-curtain dependent on the abbey of Saint-Jacut. The village, originally called Locquenvel, became a commune in 1790 before being attached to Belle-Isle-en-Terre in 1806, then restored in 1820 under its current name, Loc-Envel. The church, facing east-west, features a nave to bottom, a transept and a three-sided bedside decorated with gargoyles and chimeras.

The interior houses a sculpted walled vault representing religious and secular scenes, including angels holding the instruments of the Passion. The four Evangelists, in life-size statues, supported the arretors of the transept cross. The furniture includes a 16th century jube, a 17th century altarpiece illustrating the Passion, and a relic of St.Envel (a bone of the arm), once worn in procession during the annual forgiveness.

The glass windows of the apse, dated from the sixteenth century, depict miracles attributed to Saint Envel, such as the domestication of a wolf or the protection of peasants from predators. Although the saint is sometimes confused with Saint Armel in the phylacteries, the scenes clearly illustrate his local legend. These stained glass windows, reorganized in the modern era, retain original elements such as the miracle of St.Hostia.

The bell tower-wall, decorated with chimeras, and the three-sided bedside reflect the flamboyant Gothic style, although their attribution to the Beaumanoir family is contested by historians. The church, a communal property, remains an active place of worship for the parish of B vis-à-Belle-Isle-en-Terre. Its classification in 1911 underlines its heritage importance, both for its architecture and for its exceptional furniture.

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