Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The convent of the Jacobins of Morlaix, founded in 1238, saw its consecrated church in 1250. This religious monument, built in a sober, unique nave style, is ravaged by a fire in the middle of the 14th century. It is then rebuilt and enlarged, with the addition of a north side of the 15th century and a false transept. The south facade retains its windows in original third-point, while the flat bedside, built in the 14th century, is pierced by a bay in the middle of a hanger decorated with a rose and eight small bays.

During the Revolution, the church was desecrated and divided by a floor: the ground floor became a stable and the floor was a hay attic. In the 19th century, it was renovated in halls on the ground floor and in exhibition hall for the Museum of Fine Arts upstairs. The Society of Local Scientific Studies installs its archaeological collections, including bronze and iron age objects from amateur excavations.

Ranked a historical monument in 1983, the church houses the Jacobin Museum until its closure in 2003. In 2021, collections were evacuated for renovation including floor dismantling. Between November 2023 and March 2024, archaeological excavations led by Élodie Cabot (INRAP) exhumed nearly 250 burials and personal belongings. The construction site, scheduled until 2028, aims to restore the site to an exhibition space with a concrete slab.

Conventual buildings, organized around a courtyard adjacent to the church's south wall, retain their classified facades and roofs. The east facade, facing the entrance, has a bay in the middle of the 15th century, while the windows in the 13th century third-point remain visible on the south facade. This site illustrates the architectural and functional evolution of a Dominican convent over nearly eight centuries.

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