Paris1972-Versailles2003

Oh well again one of the souvenirs of looking over older posts is that you find spots where I have not written before or very little even having pictures! This is one example of it and I am glad I found it as is very near me and passed by almost every week! Let me tell you a bit about Locminé

Locminé is located in the Morbihan department 56 , in the region of Bretagne. Its name means “Oratory of the monks” , and in the Breton language is call Logunec’h.

A bit of history I like

 Locminé in the 6C was founded a monastery by Saint Colomban. In the 7C the Abbey of Saint-Sauveur de Moréac was founded by the disciples of Saint Gildas in Locminé. Following the Viking raids around 919, the old monastery was destroyed. In ruins, in 1008, Félix, a monk of Fleury was called by Duke Geoffroy 1er to reconstruct the Abbey of Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys and the Abbaye Saint-Sauveur de Locminé. After having definitively settled in Rhuys in 1025, he retained Locminé as a simple Priory. Locminé will remain a Priory of Saint-Gildas-de-Rhuys until 1791 . The importance of the priory of Sain-Sauveur declined over the centuries, to the point that in 1701, its buildings no longer exist.

The town was the scene of two battles during the Chouannerie wars against the French revolution. First, the Battle of Locminé in 1796. On April 7, 1796, on the orders of Georges Cadoudal, (native of Auray) general of the Catholic and Royal army of Morbihan, ordered Colonel Pierre Robinault de Saint-Régeant, commander of the Loudéac division, to go to the vicinity of Locminé. Pressed on several points, the Republicans revolutionaries retreated and took refuge in the city of Locminé. The second battle was call the Battle of Locminé of 1799. On October 29, 1799, the town of Locminé was attacked by the Chouans of the Bignan division commanded by Colonel Pierre Guillemot. The Republicans quickly took refuge in the city center. After trying for a while to resist in the cemetery, the Republicans fled in the direction of Baud, the Chouans in pursuit.

Like I said, passed by here many times and of course stop by. On one of my sons job, his bus stop here and we came to pick him up by the school Lycée agricole Anne de Bretagne at place Anne de Bretagne! Some of the more interesting things to see here are

The Chapelle Notre Dame du Plasker is in the city center of Locminé, a place of prayer would have existed in its location as early as the 11C. The present Chapel dates from the 16C. During the French revolution, the chapel was transformed into a material depot and served for some time as a deciders temple. In 1804, the town brought down the upper part of the bell tower and replaced it with the current  stove.  On the occasion of a marriage, in 1675, the register of catholicity called it Notre-Dame de la Belle-Place (Our Lady of the Beautiful square). Apparently, the square that bordered her had no particular beauty.

Built in the mid 16C, of a rectangular shape church flanked to the north by a square chapel, opening onto the main nave by a large third-point arcade penetrating into committed columns. This Chapelle Notre Dame du Plasker, which supports a small square tower, was to be vaulted as the births of the warheads were seen, but the vault was never finished. The third-point windows have a flamboyant network: above that of the bedside outside, there is a mutilated crest. The Chapel is covered with a roof with a frame whose entrails, with crocodile heads, have been cut. There are some fragments of stained glass from the 16C and a pretty flaming pool. The Altarpiece dates from the 16C.

The city of Locminé on the Chapelle Notre Dame du Plasker: http://www.locmine.bzh/94-decouvrir-locmine/213-la-chapelle-notre-dame-du-plasker

The Central Morbihan tourist board on the Chapelle Notre Dame du Plasker: https://www.centre-morbihan-tourisme.bzh/decouvrir/chapelles-calvaires-et-leurs-mysteres/105-la-chapelle-notre-dame-du-plasker-a-locmine.html

The  Church of Saint-Sauveur and Saint-Colomban initially from the 16C was a compromise between the ancient granite facades and the modern Church of concrete, carpentry and slate. The facades are that of the old Chapel of Saint-Colomban, from the end of the 15C, to the left and that of the old church, on the right; the City Council had decided, in 1972, to demolish the Church which had become obsolete, nowwith  only the two portals of the west façade. In the old church there was a stained glass window of Saint-Colomban integrated into the new construction: the panels of this stained glass were reassembled in a vertical strip behind the altar.

The Church of Saint Sauveur and Saint Colomban, finished in 1976, however the old church  was used for meetings of corporations of butchers, tanners, carpenters, etc. During the French revolution, the chapel was transformed into a material depot and served for some time as a decider temple. In 1804, the municipality had the upper part of the steeple cut down and replaced it with a stove. When the town was endowed with a fire pump, the municipality found nothing better than the shed for the carriages. Throughout the 19C, and even beyond, the chapel became the meeting place of the Marian Congregation of young Girls. At the beginning of the 19C, the church escaped demolition.

This current Church of Saint Sauveur and Saint Colomban preserves the facades of the old church and the neighboring Chapel of St. Colomban from the 16C. The two churches have the same flamboyant décor with third-point doors with decorated or basket handles inscribed in large curly braces, windows with flamboyant lattice. On the western portal of the Church rises a large square stone steeple with polygonal arrow. Church and Chapel, which communicate with each other through a huge modern arcade, are covered with frames redone in recent times. As the stained glass windows of the chapel are of the 16C, well preserved, depicting various scenes of the life of Saint Colomban. The altarpiece of the high altar, and known as altarpiece of the true Cross, in polychrome wood, dates from the 16C.. The reliquary and the hunting of Saint-Colomban, in wood and white iron, date from 1758.  The Church was made up of two aisles and exhibited various carved motifs such as gargoyles, crests, etc. The Cross presents a crucified Christ with characters at his side, the Virgin on the back, all topped with a small pediment. The cylindrical barrel is plugged into a cubic base. The whole is on a pedestal bearing various names engraved to correspond to a re construction  in the early 19C.

The city of Locminé on the Church Saint Sauveur and Saint Colomban: http://www.locmine.bzh/94-decouvrir-locmine/212-l-eglise-saint-sauveur-et-saint-colomban

The Central Morbihan tourist board  on the Church Saint Sauveur and Saint Colomban : https://www.centre-morbihan-tourisme.bzh/decouvrir/chapelles-calvaires-et-leurs-mysteres/119-l-eglise-st-sauveur-de-locmine.html

Locminé is part of the Central Morbihan agglo community of 18 towns. The webpage: http://www.centremorbihancommunaute.bzh/nous-connaitre/communes-membres/locmine/

And there you go folks, a newbie in my blog and so deservently, and there is Locminé. Oh best to reach it from the N24 expressway out of Rennes, Also D767 from Vannes and from me the forest beautiful D16. The market is held every Thursdays from 8h to 13h in city center. the train station closest is at Vannes and the airport at Lorient (see posts) . Limited bus service line 3 to Vannes via Breizhgo, the Breton transports site at Place Anne de Bretagne. Hope you enjoy the post, and thanks for reading me!

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!