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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The church Saint-Sylvestre de Plouzelambre, located in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany, forms with its ossuary and calvary an architectural ensemble of the 15th and 16th centuries. The ossuary, dated from the 15th century, is one of the oldest in Brittany, characterized by a slate cover fixed by wooden ankles, a row of outer columns supporting trilobed arches, and an interior arch lambrissed. The church's bedside dates back to the 15th century, while the nave, more recent, dates from the 16th century, supplemented by painted panels added to the 19th century.

The porch and chapel of the baptismal fonts were built between the late 16th and early 17th centuries, while the tower was erected in 1753. The nave pavement was resumed between 1783 and 1787, and a sacristy was added in 1824. The whole, including the fence of the cemetery, was classified as historical monuments by order of 4 June 1993, emphasizing its heritage importance and its remarkable state of conservation.

The ossuary, the central element of this ensemble, illustrates medieval funeral practices in Brittany, where these structures were used to store exhumed bones to free space in cemeteries. The church, on the other hand, reflects architectural developments between the Middle Ages and the modern era, with additions and modifications reflecting liturgical and community needs throughout the centuries.

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