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Origin and history

The chapel of the Temple of Coëfferie, located in the place called The Temple south of Messac (Ille-et-Vilaine), is a religious building whose nave dates back to the twelfth century, probably built by the Templars. A charter of 1217 of the Duke Peter I of Brittany, mentioning a gift to the Order of the Temple, was long mistakenly associated with this site. The manor house of La Coëfferie appeared in the archives only in 1391, under the management of the Hospitallers of the Order of St John of Jerusalem, successors of the Templars after their dissolution in 1312.

In the 14th century, a southern transept was added to the chapel, while in the 16th century, the main manor house of the commandory (Temple de Carentoir) was destroyed during the Wars of Religion. Commanders then moved to La Coëfferie. In 1626, Commander Gilles du Buisson undertook major restorations after the damage suffered during the League's wars, adding a camper and a decorated frame bearing his name. The command office then exercises judicial authority over ten surrounding parishes.

After the French Revolution, the chapel was converted into an agricultural hangar: openings were pierced, the camper destroyed, and the southern chapel divided by a floor. Since the 1960s, the site has been progressively restored. Classified as an inventory of historical monuments in 1992, the chapel preserves 12th century wall paintings, including a partial Tetramorph (Christ, bull, angel), as well as decorations painted on the door and windows of the bedside. All the buildings, organised around a closed courtyard, bear witness to his past hospital order.

The architecture combines Romanesque elements (pignons supported by foothills, door in broken arch) and Gothic or classical additions (charpents of the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries). The clay floor of the nave and the traces of a schist pavement recall its original liturgical use. The dovecote, dated 1668, and the inscriptions on the frames (like that of Gilles du Buisson) illustrate the successive work campaigns.

The site, now partially restored, offers a rare example in Brittany of transition between the military-religious orders (Templars then Hospitallers) and their adaptation to conflicts and architectural evolutions over more than five centuries.

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