We have come to Quimperlé often and always glad to be back. I like to give you again more of this wonderful monument, a must to visit here, Again, I have found me older new pictures to the blog that should be in so therefore, here i another post on the Abbey Church of the Holy Cross (Sainte Croix). Hope you enjoy it as I.
It alone is worth the trip to Quimperlé , the Abbey Church of the Holy Cross or Eglise Abbatiale de Sainte Croix. It’s a jewel and in splendid conditions. It is here that all started… It the most prestigious monument of the city of Quimperlé, an abbey founded in the 11C by the Count de Cornouaille, Alain Canhiart following a miraculous cure
The Abbey Church of Sainte Croix was founded in 1029, and was one of the richest in Brittany in the Middle Ages.The abbey church is the only church in Brittany to have a circular plan modeled on the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem , In addition, its choir is raised and is placed above the crypt which remains wide open towards the entrance of the church. The abbey church complex were converted into a court and gendarmerie during the French revolution.
One of the most remarkable in Brittany with the only circular plan, a central rotunda 30 meters in diameter, 17 meters high, to which 3 apses are attached in a trefoil plan whose rectangular leg shows an 18C facade under a 19C bell tower. Its choir of monks opens onto a raised platform of 1.30 meters. Below a crypt with an entumment. At the top, you can admire a Dressed Christ donated by Claude Lancelot to the 17C. There are only 3 in Brittany. The carved wooden pulpit from the early 18C and its crypt are summits of Romanesque Art, It comprises two floors, an 11C crypt divided into three naves, covered with groin vaults falling on engaged columns and containing ancient tombs and containing two recumbent figures from the 15C . Upstairs is the monks’ choir with low arcades, lit by eleven largely splayed windows with small columns, rosette scrolls and interlacing, rolled leaves, back-to-back birds and a few animals and rare human figures.The sculpted centerpiece is a Renaissance altarpiece dating from 1531 of Taillebourg stone, sculpted on the theme of the teaching church around Christ, with prophets, evangelists and apostles, Mary, the virtues, the doctors or some profane heroes.
It retains important furnishings: the entombment from the early 15C, the 16C altarpiece, a goldsmith treasure from the 16C to the 19C,The woodwork in the sacristy dates from 1704. The Baroque carved wooden pulpit dates from around 1700. The robed Christ dates from the 17C. It comes from a Syrian tradition introduced into the West around the 8C. Brittany discovers it late. The Charentais limestone altarpiece is a major work of the Renaissance. It was placed opposite the main entrance in 1541, before being installed in 1732 in its current location. It presents the great prophets, the four evangelists, the twelve apostles. The crypt contains the tombs of Abbé Lespervez and Saint Gurloes. The Entombment, considered the oldest in Brittany, was erected in 1500 in the Dominican church. It was left subject to vandalism and bad weather from 1882 to 1967, which explains its relatively degraded state. It is now sheltered at the entrance to the crypt. Also a good fifteen polychrome wooden statues dating from the 15C to the 18C.
The Parish of Quimperlé on the abbey church and others: https://www.paroissesquimperle.fr/%C3%A9glises-chapelles/quimperl%C3%A9/
The Local Quimperlé Terre Océane tourist office on Quimperlé: https://www.quimperle-terreoceane.com/en/discover/our-towns/quimperle/
The All starts in Finistére dept 29 tourist office on Quimperlé: https://www.toutcommenceenfinistere.com/quimperle-cite-histoire-art-creativite
There you go folks another gem of my lovely Bretagne on quant nice Quimperlé , a must to visit while in the area ! This is the Abbey Church of the Holy Cross or Sainte Croix. See my other posts on the church and Quimperlé in my blog, Hope you enjoy the post as I,
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 
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