Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Priory of Locmaria, founded in the 11th century in Quimper, was a Benedictine monastery initially double (men and women), dependent as early as 1124 on the Abbey of Saint Sulpice of Rennes. The male convent disappeared in the 14th century, while the female prioress persisted until the Revolution. The current buildings include a Romanesque church of the 11th, remodeled in the 12th and 17th centuries, and a cloister of 1670, partially preserved.

The church, of basilical plane (40 m long), has a nave with three vessels, a salient transept and a bedside reborn in the 12th century. It was listed as a historical monument in 1855, and became a parish church in 1857. The cloister, registered in 1963, and the facades of the priory (former Emeriau barracks, registered in 1969) bear witness to the transformations of the 17th and 19th centuries. The site, located at the foot of Mount Frugy near the Odet, was probably a monastic place as early as the 9th or 10th century, although the evidence was lacking.

In the 17th century, the abbesse Marie de Bourgneuf launched important works: reconstruction of the choir, construction of new convent buildings and a cloister. The Revolution broke down the 22 nuns in 1792. The priory, linked to figures such as Alain Canhiart (presumed founder for his daughter Hodierne, first abbess) and Conan III (duc having attached the monastery to Saint-Sulpice in 1124), illustrates Breton religious history. Stories such as that of Alienor de Liscoët (prior fictional in the League wars) reflect his anchoring in local memory.

The current remains — church, cloister fragments and convent buildings — recall its central role among the four medieval women's abbeys in Brittany. The priory, transformed into a barracks in the 19th century, retains major architectural elements, such as the Gothic portal of the western facade or the archatures of the cloister. Its history blends ducal foundations, Gregorian reforms and post-revolutionary adaptations.

External links