And here I go again after finding more pictures in my cd rom vaults that should be in my blog for you and me. This is going deep in Finistére dept 29 ,always looking for new spots in France we came to Saint Renan, Therefore, let me give you my take on this is Saint Renan !!! Hope you enjoy the post as I.
The town of Saint-Renan is located in the Finistère department no 29 of my lovely Bretagne, and in my belle France. The territory was enlarged in 1850 by part of Plouzané, and in 1955 by parts of Milizac, Plouarzel, and Plouzané. In 1970, a district of Plouzané was incorporated. The town of Saint-Renan is a junction where several roads converge coming from or leading to the coast: D 68 (coming from Porspoder), D 27 (coming from Lanildut), D 5 (coming from Plouarzel), D 67 (coming from Le Conquet) which converge there to or from Brest; the Ty Colo roundabout is the strategic hub; to the east the D 67 towards Gouesnou, the N 12 expressway and Brest-Bretagne airport is also an axis which allows you to bypass the Brest conurbation to the north. It is 14 km from Brest, 16 km from Le Conquet, 36 km from Landerneau, 86 km from Quimper and 176 km from my current home from which we came here along the N165 expressway dir Brest, crossing the pont Albert Louppe bridge continue thru the town of Le Relecq Kerhuon becoming the N265 road going around Brest crossing the N12 highway becomes the D267 road dir Gouesnou continue to rond point des lapins roundabout bearing left onto the D67 road continue dir Saint Renan at roundabout Charles de Gaulle bear right onto the D13 road to the roundabout rondpoint de Dorguen bearing left onto again the D67 ,then on the roundabout or rondpoint de ty colo bear right onto the D105 road continue then bear left onto Bd du Ponant continue same road becomes the Rue des Jardins bear right onto Place du Gen Leclerc, then quick right onto Rue Gen de Gaulle, then on next roundabout bear right onto Place Saint Herbot continue same road becomes Rue de l’église to the Church Notre Dame des Liesse,
The Church Notre-Dame-de-Liesse comprises a nave of six bays with side aisles, extended by a choir of two straight bays and a roundabout of seven arcades surrounded by an ambulatory onto which three radiating chapels open. The ten round pillars of the choir arcades form a semicircle. The first two are even quadruple. All support sculpted neo-Romanesque capitals, Sculptures from the old church of St. Ronan still adorn the base of the altar. They represent five of the twelve apostles. Starting from the left, we can see the apostles Peter, Andrew, John, Bartholomew, and Simon. A sixth apostle, Thomas, once completed this ensemble. Recovered after the break, it is now part of the collections of the Musée du Ponant. The first six bays were rebuilt after May 21, 1771.
The bell tower is crowned by a lantern, cushioned in a dome and itself surmounted by a small lantern. The Gothic tower collapsed following its partial demolition by lightning in 1768, and was rebuilt in May 21 1771 The church formerly housed the statues of the Holy Virgin, Saint Renan, Saint Roch and Saint Barbara. The current church preserves an old statue of Saint Mémor, or Saint Mémoire, holding his entrails in both hands. Large stained-glass windows, illuminating the nave and side aisles, adorn this church. They are true masterpieces, rich in color, decoration, characters, and history, created during the 1905 restoration. In 1969, in accordance with the Second Vatican Council, many of the church’s ornaments were removed, including statues that were deposited in the Religious Museum of Brest. But we have kept some, such as the very beautiful statue of Saint Roch, which dates from the 15th century.
The former priory Church of Saint Renan was a simple chapel, renamed Notre-Dame-de-Liesse in 1747, destroyed by fire in 1760, and was part of the Abbey of Saint-Mathieu. The 13C portal was still visible in the 18C. It was not until 1772 that the Church Notre-Dame-de-Liesse became a parish church. The gallery dates from 1891. The church was restored in 1904. In 1969, a new remodeling took place with the stripping of a large part of the ornaments.
Other things to see here are the old houses from the 15-16C, located on the Place du Vieux-Marché, offer historical and architectural attractions to the town. gabled and half-timbered houses like the maison Cardinal house 16C. Half-timbered house with a facade with two cantilevered floors. maison Gérard house ,16C, The Thieves’ Chapel is in fact only an old hunting lodge built in 1870 by the owner of the Langongar manor with stones from a destroyed chapel.
A bit of history I like tell us while Brest was still a small village, the town of Saint-Renan grew throughout the Middle Ages. Until the 15C, the town was often called Saint Renan du Tay (old Celtic word meaning mud), hence Saint Renan of the marshes. Built by the lords of Léon, who later added fairs and markets and constructed various public and private buildings, including important covered markets. In 1276, the town was sold by Viscount Hervé IV of Léon to Duke Jean Le Roux of Brittany, who established a court of justice there under the name of the Ducal Bar of Saint-Renan and Brest. After Brittany was annexed by France,(1532), Saint-Renan became a seneschal’s administrative center, whose civil and military administration, overseen by a seneschal, extended over 37 surrounding parishes and districts. In 1681, Louis XIV transferred the court of justice to Brest, which led to an economic decline in the town.
An anecdote I like tell us that a bomber from 61 Squadron of the Royal British Air Force, which had just bombed nazis ships in the port of Brest, was hit by nazis flak and crashed northwest of Saint-Renan on January 31, 1942. One of the airmen, Canadian Sergeant Griffith, walked to the edge of the Aber Ildut, then was hidden, first in an isolated farm in Saint-Renan, then in Brest, then in Le Faou, finally at the Château de Tréfry in Quéménéven at Césaire de Poulpiquet’s, before, helped by Doctor Vourc’h, being escorted to Angers, then crossing the demarcation line at La Haye-Descartes and going to Lyon where he was taken care of by another escort, a member of the Pat O’Leary network who accompanied him. to the Spanish border.
The town of Saint Renan on its heritage : https://www.saint-renan.fr/listes/patrimoine/
Les Plus Beaux Detours en France on Saint Renan : https://www.plusbeauxdetours.com/tous-les-plus-beaux-detours/detour-par-saint-renan-dans-le-finistere/
The local Iroise Bretagne tourist office on Saint Renan : https://www.iroise-bretagne.bzh/itineraire/circuit-rando-n8-saint-renan-dantan/
There you go folks, a bit of off the beaten path trails. We reach this quant town that is worth a visit, me think, Another nice visit in my wonderful Finistére! Again, hope you enjoy the post on this is Saint Renan !!! as I.
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 