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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The Saint-Germain church of Rennes, located in the neighborhood of the new town, is an emblematic parish building, built between 1470 and 1690. Originally erected in a flamboyant Gothic style, it was completed with late Renaissance elements, reflecting architectural evolution over more than two centuries. Originally, a small 12th century church, surrounded by a cemetery in the 13th century, occupied the site; Only two pillars near the sacristy remain today. The parish, first linked to the Barony of Vitré, passed under the Viscounty of Rennes in the 17th century. Ranked a historic monument in 1914, it embodies the religious and artistic heritage of Brittany.

The church's rectangular plan, with a flat bedside and a flat west wall, includes a south-west section along the old Roman way Rennes-Angers. His southern porch (1606–1623), by Germain Gaultier, first architect of the Parliament of Brittany, and his bell tower (1519–1550), a former municipal belfry ceded to the parish in 1651, illustrate his mix of styles. Inside, the flamboyant Gothic nave, with light pillars and sandstones carved from grotesque figures, contrasts with the 17th century broken cradle vault, higher than originally planned. The choir houses a Gothic window and an exceptional stained glass window: an abstract assembly of 16th century fragments, saved after the Revolution.

Saint-Germain's stained glass windows are among the oldest in Rennes. The south flank window (16th century), recomposed in 1860, represents scenes of the life of the Virgin and Passion, classified as a historical monument in 1909. Max Ingrand, master glassmaker of the 20th century, realized the rest of the glasswork, also visible at St Peter's Cathedral or the Toussaints church. The organ, whose buffet comes from the Abbey of Our Lady of Prayers (Billions), was enlarged and modified in the 19th and 20th centuries by factors such as Dallery, Merklin-Schütze or Gütschenritter. Ranked in 1948 for the buffet and in 1992 for the instrumental part, it has 36 games spread over three keyboards.

The furniture includes remarkable works: a painting of the Resurrection of Lazarus by Eloi Firmin Féron (1802–76), replacing in 2008 a canvas by Gaspard de Crayer (1584–169) today at the Museum of Fine Arts in Rennes; a high altar and a baldaquin Louis XVI, originally planned for the Cathedral of Saint Malo, bought in 1805 and enriched with a baldaquin made of golden wood (1811) and then a Napoleonic glory (1855); A pulpit to be preached in 1805, classified in 1954, and an 18th century fence. These elements reflect post-revolutionary reconstructions and successive stylistic additions.

The history of Saint-Germain is linked to the local elites: parish of merchants-merciers and then parliamentarians, it reflects the prestige of Rennes, the administrative capital of Brittany. Its classification in 1914 protects a building where Breton gothic blends (adorned sandstones, arches in full hangar), Renaissance (southern porch) and Baroque (continuous vault). The construction campaigns, studied by Jacques Mallet (1981), underline his role in the urbanization of the new city, along the eponymous square. Today, the church remains an active place of worship and a major witness to Rennes' heritage.

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