And I come back to the Finistére in my lovely Bretagne to tell you about another gem often misplaced in bigger previous post but that deserve mention on its own. I like to tell you about the Church Notre Dame de l’Assomption or St Michel of Quimperlé, part II !! Its once again in my road warrior mode in my lovely Bretagne that I came back to this wonderful fortified city. I have written before on the church but this is new text and pictures of today.
It takes a little courage to climb into the upper city, but the ascent is worth it. You can indeed gather in the Church Notre Dame de l’Assomption or St Michel , of Gothic origin 13C. The touching statue of Our Lady of Kergornet, who breastfeed the child Jesus, welcomes the Pilgrim.
This Church of Notre Dame de l’Assomption is a Gothic church located on Place Saint Michel. It was built in two phases, at the end of the 13C for the nave. The choir, the bell tower and the porches, were rebuilt at the beginning of the 15C by the patronage of Duke Jean V, it is a fine example of the flamboyant Gothic style, which met with great success in Brittany. The Church Notre Dame de l’Assomption retains the oldest dated sand pits in Brittany, about 1430 as well as a rich statue of the Virgin. Originally, the church was a chapel. We do not know the precise date of construction, it seems likely that it is later than 1266, and probably corresponds more to the 1270s. It was only in 1773 that it took on the function of parish church when the Saint-Michel church, on the eponymous square, fell into ruins.
The nave corresponds to the primitive chapel, a large pilgrimage chapel 10 x 30 meters founded by Duke Jean Le Roux in the last quarter of the 13C. The simplicity of the original plan in a single vessel evokes the mendicant orders of the time, the sobriety of the style of the bays and the dedication to Notre Dame whose cult flourished in the 13C. The dimensions of the Church of Notre-Dame de l’Assomption are estimated at 36 to 38 meters by 10 meters; uncertainty about its precise length is due to demolitions at the ends of the church at the end of the 14C. In the 13C, it was perhaps extended by a narthex, lit by an oculus and probably pierced by a main porch. The church would therefore have been shifted towards the square, with an interior floor in steps and already two symmetrical portals near the choir. However, the nave has always been 11 meters high. In 1373, the chapel was completely ruined by Bertrand Du Guesclin and Olivier de Clisson during the French occupation of the Duchy. The traces are visible: disappearance of the western facade and of the first bay(s) of the nave, later replaced by an adjoining house, artificial cutting of the gable wall, walled oculus and pierced with a loophole . The reconstruction will then take place but it is only in 1383 that the site will really resume due to a papal indulgence dated July 8. It will start with the south porch.
The construction of the eastern part of the church began in 1416 or 1418 and ended in the middle of the 16C. Thanks to the liberalities of Duke Jean V, Henry de Lespervez, the Abbot of Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé and bourgeois and aristocratic families of the City ,which of course, had their coats of arms appear both outside and inside, the work includes the installation of the north porch ,completed in 1425, the framework of the nave ,dated 1430, the eastern part of the crossing of the transept , the solid mass of the tower and choir in which Henry de Lespervez was buried in 1434. The construction of a rood screen placed between the nave and the crossing of the transept, accessible from a spiral staircase housed in the turret also serving the upper parts of the tower, remains , in the absence of traces of fixation, uncertain. It was only between 1520 and 1550 that the transept serving as the front choir, the non-projecting transept and the choir with a flat apse flanked by side chapels were covered with ribbed vaults. Since the 16C, the tower housed, as a belfry, the city clock which was equipped with a mechanism setting in motion a statue of Saint Michael; destroyed in 1590, it was restored in 1620. Built as an extension of the chevet, the sacristy, dates from the end of the 18C, as does the house which leans to it.
A framed bell tower covered with a pavilion roof surrounded by a platform flanked by four pinnacles. The room located above the north porch, a bay of which opens directly onto the north side chapel, is accessible by a spiral staircase. To the south, another spiral staircase gives access to a straight staircase which joins another spiral which, placed in the south-west corner of the tower, successively serves the space located above the vaults of the crossing of the transept, bell chamber and tower platform, Wonderful architecture !
The city of Quimperlé on its identity/presentation: https://www.quimperle.bzh/decouvrir-la-ville/quimperle/carte-didentite/
The local Quimperlé les rias on Quimperlé: https://www.quimperle-lesrias.bzh/la-ville-de-quimperle/
The parish of Quimperlé on its churches including Notre Dame: https://www.paroissesquimperle.fr/%C3%A9glises-chapelles/quimperl%C3%A9/
There you go folks, a lovely Church Notre Dame de l’Assomption, part II or also call of St Michel by the locals. It is worth the detour to pretty Quimperlé , check my other posts on the city worth the visit in my lovely Bretagne. Again, hope you enjoy the post as I.
And remember, happy travels , good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 