The Church Saint Pierre et Saint Etienne of Carquefou, part II !!

Posted in Bretagne, France

On my road warrior trips down south from me , visit many areas mostly in wine country of the Loire, Passing many towns which later came back for a closer look, One of these was Carquefou. The town is at the crossroads of autoroutes A11 and A811 in the Loire Atlantique dept 44 of Pays de la Loire region. Let me tell you more of the Church Saint Pierre et Saint Etienne of Carquefou , part II !! Hope you enjoy the post as I.

I have written before on the church so this time will condense the text (see more on other post) and show some older pictures new to the blog which feels should be here, The Church of Saint Pierre et Saint Etienne is so gorgeous! , a real find, and very imposing walking on rue du 9 août 1944 (where we parked my car)  into Place Saint Pierre.  I had translated most from the Catholic parish of Carquefou on the church.

As the story goes; the old church consisted of a nave about 19 meters long by 9 meters wide, a choir 6 meters wide by 6 meters deep, two side chapels 11 meters long, separated from the nave and the choir by two voluminous pillars against which are leaned two small altars. This church does not offer enough space for the population. On 1850, it was unanimously recognized the urgency of a new construction, urgency reiterated at the meeting in 1862 or twelve years later! Finally , the new Church Saint Pierre et Saint Etienne was laid the first stone and blessed on December 8 1870, with the construction of the shell lasting about three years; however, it remained to garnish the interior. First, the altars, pulpit, communion table, statues, Stations of the Cross of the old church will be rearranged in the new church, The new furniture would come only a few years later thanks to new donors.

carquefou ch st pierre et st etienne entrance jul20

The keystones are numerous in the new Church of Saint Pierre et Saint Etienne with 24 in total, including eight in the choir and the central nave, one in each chapel and seven in each side bay. They are adorned with bishop’s coats of arms, biblical scenes, or a prophecy from the prophet Isaiah, a sea anchor, acanthus leaves or the coats of arms of donors. For the complete completion of the steeple to the spire, work began in 1895 and was completed at the end of 1896. A high spire dominates the church and the louver chamber is ready to receive the bells. The first and heaviest, weighs 1800 kg and name   Alix-Andrée. The second,weighs 1150 kg, and name Emilie-Sophie. The third, weighing 800 kg, and its name is Marie The fourth being Pauline-Armande-Calixte from 1849 weighing 450 kg as the oldest,having some leaks it was replaced by Juliette Geraldine with a weight of 380 kgs.

carquefou ch st pierre et st etienne chevet back jul20

The stained-glass windows were produced in 1872 by a team of twelve glassmakers from Nantes . It is a pretty church off the beaten path but should be visited, see again my other post for more details.

The Catholic parish of Carquefou on the Church St Pierre et St Etienne: https://paroisse-carquefou-suce-sur-erdre.fr/index.php/la-paroisse/histoire-de-nos-eglises/#sommaire

The city of Carquefou on the history of the church: https://www.carquefou.fr/actualites/la-construction-de-leglise-saint-pierre-et-saint-paul/

There you go folks, another beautiful monument of Carquefou right in city center of course surrounded by great goodies shops and nice restaurants that invites a return soon. Again, hope you enjoy this post on the the Church Saint Pierre et Saint Etienne of Carquefou , part II !! as I

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

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Published by pedmar10

I am a lover of travels to Europe , Americas , Africa and Asia as well ,who like to share my experiences of the last 53 years with the world, visiting so far 81 countries; living in 6, working in 5, and Citizen of 4, speaking fluently 4 languages. I can deal with sports especially football/soccer and love music, arts, wine collector/drinker, and go out to restaurants, and just visit the world. My background comes all the way from Candelaria and Pajara in Tenerife, Spain where my grandparents came from ;not knowing each other then, to Punta Brava, west of Havana, Cuba. There , my parents born in Cuba met and later on I was born there too. 100% guanche (annexed Tenerife to Spain on April 10 ,1496). I left Cuba as many have to Madrid, Spain where I lived for 4 years. Then, move to Perth Amboy ,New Jersey USA (living there 13 yrs) ; where I completed high school, became a US Citizen, learned to drive a car, and learned English. Afterward, went to the university in Florida, ERAU, and upon graduation decided to moved there to Ormond by the Sea, near Daytona Beach, finally moving North Miami, then Hialeah, then another moved to Silver Lakes division in Miramar, Broward county, Florida; in Florida I lived a total of 18 years. Finally , moved to France in 2003 ,Versailles call me for its royalty, and working in Paris was great. It was time to seek frontiers again and moved to Brech near Auray, Morbihan in Brittany , and later move to not too far Pluvigner. Total so far in France has been 20 years, and counting. Moving average a home every 5.5 years hopefully this will be my last. Cheers All rights reserved. No part of this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means or stored in a retrieval system of any nature, without the written permission of the copyright holder, me. No part of this work may be modified, without the written permission of the holder, me.No part of this work may be exposed to public view in any form or by any means, without identifying the holder as the author, and with the before mentioned permission.

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