As said in previous posts, been here several times as it was the favorite cosmetic firm of my dear late wife Martine. Due to circumtances we have been away from it for a while, but it was time to come to La Gacilly. The church is difficult to realise it is once facing it and have written before , however, this is new text and photos. Therefore, here is my take on the Church Saint Nicolas de Myre of La Gacilly !! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
I like to tell you a bit more on La Gacilly in my Morbihan dept 56 of my lovely Bretagne in my belle France. The town of La Gacilly is the home of the famous cosmetic firm Yves Rocher labs!! La Gacilly is 13 km from Redon, 49 km from Vannes, 51 km from Rennes and 75 km from Nantes. The Church Saint Nicolas de Myre is from the 17C of neo greek style sitting right just outside the inner core of the city by the covered market on rue Antoine Monteil.
The Montauban archives point to a chapel at La Gacilly before 1395; as the Lord of La Gacilly did not have a family tomb at Carentoir, it is reasonable to think that he was in his particular chapel at La Gacilly. There are reports that Françoise d´Amboise liked to come and pray in this holy place ;she was Duchess of Brittany from 1450 to 1457 , and founder of the first female Carmelite of Brittany in Vannes (and the third in the history of the Order of Carmel), while the Carmelites had not yet arrived in the neighboring kingdom of France . Widowed, she entered Carmel and became prioress of her convent. She was beatified a few years after her 1485 death.
Around 1640, Catherine de Kerguézec, wife of René de Talhouët, lord of La Gacilly, donated to her church a painting from the Italian school depicting the miracle of St Nicolas. This painting has long been hung in the present Church Saint Nicolas. It is said that St Vincent-Ferrier lived from 1350 to 1419. He probably passed to La Gacilly in 1418 to go from Ploërmel to Redon. This is undoubtedly the reason why the Roman road, at the entrance to La Gacilly, on the West side, took the name of rue St-Vincent and that a chapel and a cross were built there where it was done a sermon to the locals, a place which became a place of pilgrimage.
This Church Saint Nicolas de Myre consisted of a single nave 25 meters long and 9 to 10 meters wide ending in a chancel with tombs on the side of the altar and, on the other hand, by a fairly low bell tower provided with a single bell in the beginning. This bell tower was not built until much later, the blessing of the first bell did not take place until February 16, 1664. In 1698, a clock was placed on the bell tower and a second bell was installed in 1790. A sacristy was supported to the wall on the north side, towards the city. Four beautiful Corinthian columns in this nave have long been preserved in the garden of the former rectory.
The Church of Saint-Nicolas-de-Myre or Saint-Jean-de-Myre from 1845. This church replaces the old chapel of the castle which once served as parish worship and dated from the 14C and was restored or enlarged in 1626 and 1628. The Church first trivial then parochial of la Gacilly was under the invocation of St. Nicholas. In 1745, the truce of La Gacilly was erected in the parish. The present Church is executed according to the rules of Greek architecture, with portico columns and rich triangular pediment. The church stood on a height, between the city and the old road of Glénac.The first stone of a chapel to the south in 1626, and another to the north in 1628; they were blessed in 1631, and dedicated, that of the north to the Blessed Virgin, and that of the south to St. Nicholas.
The Church Saint Nicolas de Myre was initially only the chapel of the castle; the original castle is dated, it seems, from the 6C. It then bore the name of Arcilla, then of Garcillé. In 1884, there was no trace of the castle above the mound; its foundations were hidden under the agglomerated earth. It rose on a height, between the town and the old road to Glénac. The Saint-Nicolas Church was equipped with a modern organ of the electroacoustic type in 2017.
The tourist office of Broceliande on La Gacilly: https://www.broceliande-vacances.com/decouvrir/incontournables/villes-villages/la-gacilly/
The tourist office of Bretagne on La Gacilly: https://www.visitsouthbrittany.com/node/3041/PCUBRE0560000143/detail/la-gacilly/la-gacilly
The parish Church Saint Nicolas de Myre at La Gacilly: http://paroisse.gacilly.free.fr/
So now feel better to give credit to this wonderful monument in city center just before the old town section of La Gacilly. The Church Saint Nicolas de Myre is worth coming back for the interior. Again hope you enjoy the post on the Church Saint Nicolas de Myre as I
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 