Paris1972-Versailles2003

It is one of our most visited City for walks , and Lorient and the Church Notre Dame de Victoire/St Louis , the church is a must to visit, . A very nice neighborhodd we have come even for shopping and eating, The monument to see here is the Church Notre Dame de Victoire but the locals still call it Church de Saint Louis.  Lorient is about 35 km by car from my house ; it is a sub préfecture City, The church really needs another post to show you more pictures found in my vault that really needs to be in my blog. Of course, this is in beautiful Morbihan dept 56 of my lovely Bretagne ! Let me tell you a bit more on it ok, and hope you enjoy it as I.

The first church in the town center was built between 1702 and 1706, four hundred meters from the current church, at the top of the Cour de la Bôve. It was dedicated to Saint-Louis. This church was destroyed in 1768 and replaced by a new, ephemeral church, since it was rebuilt in 1810. The bell tower was built between 1826 and 1828. In 1867, the parish was consecrated to Notre-Dame de Victoire by Pope Pius IX, in memory of the “miraculous” liberation of the city occupied by the English, on October 7, 1747. This third church will be seriously damaged by the Allied bombings in February 1943, and will be razed in December 1945. Only the bell tower was preserved. The current church was built between 1953 and 1955,

The new Church of Notre-Dame-de-Victoire, the seat of the parish of Saint-Louis, is a church located by the place Alsace Lorraine. It is the most important parish in the country of Lorient. Made of concrete, the steeple culminates at 54 meters high, and is the highest point of Lorient. The access to its summit is done by means of a staircase of 270 steps.

The monumental porch, in the middle of the facade, is 12 meters high. It is adorned with a statue of Notre-Dame, As soon as visitors enter the church, their gaze is struck by the chromatic contrast between the almost uniform gray of the nave and the rather yellow clarity of the choir. Such was the architect’s will ; to create a nave without many stained glass windows and which must remain in the shadows so that the attention of the faithful is drawn in by the light of the choir. To this end, a series of glazed claustras line the north and south sides of the sanctuary, almost from the floor to the vault.

In the Chapel of the Virgin sits the statue of Notre Dame de Victoire or Our Lady of Victory, from 1850. The city of Lorient wants to be under the protection of Mary and this statue is the illustration. In 1746, during the War of the Austrian Succession, when the city was besieged by the English, the inhabitants made a vow to the Virgin. A silver statue of Notre Dame is then created. It will disappear during the French revolution and will be replaced in 1850 by the statue of Postel. In 1943, the statue was removed intact from the rubble of the Saint-Louis church, which was interpreted as a sign of the protection of Notre-Dame de Victoire over the city. The Virgin sits enthroned on the city ramparts. With her scepter, she is dismissing the British leopard, which holds the scepter in its mouth.

The high Altar of the Church of Notre Dame de Victoire/St Louis is associated with the famous word of Christ, read in the Gospel according to Luke: “advance offshore, and throw your nets for fishing.” These words addressed to Simon-Peter are the prelude to the miraculous fishery. “Forward offshore” also appears on a banner clearly visible on the western façade of the Church. The side chapels are  two chapels each decorated with a large fresco. That of the Chapel of the Virgin traces elements of the life of Saint Louis, while that of the Blessed Sacrament Chapel  is rich with a biblical symbolism very moving.

The previous church of St Louis had the first organ built in 1838 by the young prodigy organ builder Aristide Cavaillé-Coll, recently installed in Paris, rue Notre-Dame de Lorette. We can also note that Brittany was the breeding ground of Aristide since if Lorient is his first organ delivered in metropolitan France, Pontivy is the third (after Notre-Dame de Lorette in Paris) and Dinan the fourth, In 1891, the organ is replaced by a new organ. Cavaillé’s organ was placed in 1891 in the Notre-Dame de Bonne-Nouvelle Church in the Kerentrech district of Lorient, where it still stands. In 1959, a new large organ with 48 stops on three manuals and pedals was built and installed , this organ was inaugurated in September 1959. In 1965, the choir organ with 12 stops, with mechanical transmission was installed, It will be necessary to wait until 2001 for a complete restoration of the organs to be carried out.

I keep writing the double name of Notre Dame de Victoire and Saint Louis because as the new Church was really given the name of ND de Victoire, the locals still refers to it as Saint Louis therefore ,the title of my post! Again,it is worth the detour for the contrast of a modern Church to many old ones we have around here.

The Catholic Parish of Vannes on the church of Lorient: https://www.vannes.catholique.fr/eglise-notre-dame-de-victoire-lorient/

The local Lorient South Brittany tourist office on the churches of Lorient: https://www.lorientbretagnesudtourisme.fr/fr/immanquables/lorient/decouvrir-les-eglises-de-lorient/

The Bretagne region tourist board on Lorient: https://www.brittanytourism.com/destinations/the-10-destinations/southern-brittany-morbihan-gulf/lorient/

There you go folks, a wonderful monument in a very nice neighborhood, now come and see the Church of Notre Dame de Victoire or Saint Louis ,and modern city of Lorient. It is worth a detour me think.

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

I like to take you a nice beach town that has wonderful monuments, just browse my blog and search Plouharnel, It’s another gem in my beautiful Morbihan! I like to put this monument with its own post which me think deserve it, Therefore, he is my take on the Chapelle de Sainte Barbe of Plouharnel. Hope you enjoy the post as I,

I pass by it almost every weekend when I am not traveling out of France as it is just south of me in the peninsula of Quiberon just before the isthmus. Plouharnel is a town in my beautiful Morbihan Department 56 of my lovely Bretagne region,  This town is located at the bottom of Quiberon Bay, 3 km from Carnac, and 25 km from my house.

The monument to see here is the Chapelle de Sainte Barbe  (Santa Barbara) which has a history of the Chouans rebels that were here camping with Gen Cadoudal back in 1795; they fought the French revolution. As many led you to believe that it was a revolution on the king and period, it was longer than that and not totally wipe out the resistance than until 1832. Before all the combattants were given pardon and titles given back, even some like Gen Cadoudal (see post) posthumously given Marshal of France!  And the kings came back until 1881 stop for refusing to use the current revolutionary flag of France! 

The Chapelle Sainte Barbe is built in a rectangular shape and has recessed buttresses and pinnacles. It has a square bell tower above the western door framed by pinnacles. Two incomplete statues surmount the corner buttresses of the facade. The bell tower of the Chapelle Sainte-Barbe was recently renovated and a new weather vane in the shape of a fish was installed to replace the old one which had fallen to the ground, A staircase provides access to the bell tower. This bell tower has been famous since General Hoche (native of Versailles and revolutionary) established an observatory there around 1795 during the Quiberon affair (see above).

The stained glass window retraces the life of Saint Barbara. The tower where her father wanted to lock her up to avoid any contact with Christians is present. The father who raises his sword on his daughter who does not want to deny her religion, is represented in the center. The father struck down, heavenly punishment, is represented at the top of the stained glass window. The stained glass window was made between 1979 and 1980, The interior of the Chapelle Sainte Barbe was recently renovated (2018-19) thanks to the work of the association “Les Amis de la chapel et du site de Sainte-Barbe”

It is believed that an oratory existed before the Chapelle Sainte-Barbe, a chapel dedicated to Santa Barbara, invoked the saint in places of great peril, like the sea here. A path leads below the fountain to a very pretty washhouse. As an anecdote always like to tell, Santa Barbara is the patron saint of my native town and we invoked her in my house.

The Association of Friends of the Chapel Santa Barbara : https://chapelle-sainte-barbe.weebly.com/

The local Bay of Quiberon tourist office on the chapel: https://www.baiedequiberon.bzh/a-voir-a-faire/culture-et-patrimoine/chapelles-et-eglises/chapelle-sainte-barbe

The city of Plouharnel on its heritage: http://www.mairieplouharnel.fr/fr/information/87929/histoire-patrimoine

There you go folks, a nice town to visit with history all around you and a nice Chapelle de Sainte Barbe of Plouharnel. Again, take a look at my other posts on the town, and hope you enjoy this post as I.

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