Again, in my beautiful Morbihan dept 56 of my lovely Bretagne in my belle France. The Morbihan rocks! I came back to this town just about 11,5 km from my house, down on the road D16. I revisit some usual monuments but went into the bay and saw new things, amazing always something new, see my posts, Now, let me bring you again to the small quant town ,and the Church Saint Pierre of Locoal-Mendon !! Hope you enjoy it as I.
The Church of Saint-Pierre was originally the Notre-Dame Chapel, the building was built in the 15C. From this period are preserved the apse, the walls of the transept and the porch. During the reconstruction of the parish Church of Saint-Pierre, which began in the 18C, the chapel replaced it. But the site dragged on and was abandoned by the time of the French revolution. The unfinished building was replaced in 1822 by a nun’s house. The chapel becomes definitively a parish church. The nave and the tower were erected in 1875. In 1892, the interior of the building was resumed, removing the tie-rods and the sandpit carved with the coat of arms of the old party.
The Church of Saint Pierre has a Latin cross plan with a single aisle and a flat apse. It is covered with a false ribbed vault in plaster from the 19C. The porch is vaulted in stone on a ribbed cross. It is bordered on each side by a stone bench surmounted by six now empty niches. Two twin basket-handle doors, separated by a trumeau carrying a holy water font, give access to the church. The arms of the transept open onto the nave through broken arches, the moldings of which penetrate directly into the columns. A large Gothic tracery bay lights the choir. St. Peter’s Church is rarely open.
It was internally renovated in 1892. The exterior decoration, flamboyant, is particularly rich. To the south is a beautiful square porch, vaulted with warheads, adorned with pinnacles pilasters, curly braces, and foliage of vine leaves, with false gable with creeping also decorated. A stone bench is carved inside and outside the porch. The cushier buttresses of pinnacles are adorned with false architecture and animal motifs. The bell tower, with a stone spire, which rises on the western gable, was completely redone in 1875; this bell tower rises in a three-story tower connected by angled buttresses of pinnacles with vegetal cross. The Choir dates from 1474. The bedside window is divided into five trilbies forms surmounted by a network of trilobite flames around a central quatrefoil from the15C, and a tower in 1893 as well as a scene of the Nativity of the Virgin, with ten characters.
The town of Locoal-Mendon is part of the canton of Belz located west of Auray. It is formed by the meeting of two former parishes, Locoal-Auray and Mendon but still composed for the worship of two branches. The territory is limited to the north by Landaul, to the west by the Etel river, to the south by Belz, Erdeven and Ploemel, to the east by Brech. Upon this visit, the church was under renovation and indeed it is about time. From the 8C to the beginning of the 10C, the possessions of the monastery of Locoal gradually embraced the territory of the current parish of Sainte-Hélène, the peninsula of Plec, and the coasts of Mendon. This prosperity lasted two or three centuries, until the ravages of the Normans at the beginning of the 10C or 919. One of them, Gurky, who remained in Locoal and converted to Christianity, restored the monastery and offered it in 1037 to the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Sauveur de Redon with all its dependencies. In 1790, Locoal lost the district of Sainte-Hélène, a territory on the right bank which broke away and became an independent town. Since then, the parish of Locoal only includes the island of Locoal and the Plec peninsula. By authoritarian decision of Napoleon, Locoal is then attached to Mendon in 1806 and therefore takes the name of Locoal-Mendon.
The town of Locoal-Mendon on its heritage: https://www.locoal-mendon.fr/mairie-locoal-mendon-56/cadre-de-vie/decouvrir-1.php
The local Bay of Quiberon tourist office on Locoal-Mendon : https://www.baiedequiberon.co.uk/locoal-mendon
There you go folks, this is one of those town, you see the real France. Locoal-Mendon is not a tourist town but has wonderful nature trails and great oysters that should be worth a detour , me think. It is historical for sure locally and has nice architecture which I like. Again, hope you enjoy the post on the Church Saint Pierre of Locoal-Mendon !! as I.
And, remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 