The Plounéour-Ménez Parish close ( Enclos paroissial) is located at

Plounéour-Ménez Plounéour-Ménez (; ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. Population Inhabitants of Plounéour-Ménez are called in French ''Énéouriens''. See also *Communes of the Finistère department *Parc n ...

in the arrondissement of

Morlaix Morlaix (; , ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. History The Battle of Morlaix, part of the Hundred Years' War, was fought near the town on 30 Septembe ...

Brittany Brittany ( ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the north-west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica in Roman Gaul. It became an Kingdom of Brittany, independent kingdom and then a Duch ...

in north-western

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

. The church Église Saint Yves was built in 1651 and there is evidence that it replaced an earlier and older church. The church and the "arc de triomphe" are a listed

historical monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

since 1914. The church at

is dedicated to Saint Yves. Initially the enclos, constructed in granite, comprised the church itself, the cemetery situated around the church, an ossuary, a calvary positioned in the cemetery and a surrounding wall with several entrances, of which the main entrance is in the "Arc de Triomphe" style; the classic "enclos paroissial" in fact, but in time the cemetery was moved elsewhere and the ossuary destroyed. The church has nine transepts with large panelled aisles. The bell tower has no gallery and the clocheton on the spire was hit by lightning in 1847 and destroyed. The pulpit dates to the 17th Century and is richly decorated with carvings depicting the

four evangelists In Christian tradition, the Four Evangelists are Matthew the Apostle, Matthew, Mark the Evangelist, Mark, Luke the Evangelist, Luke, and John the Evangelist, John, the authors attributed with the creation of the four canonical Gospel accounts ...

and their attributes: an angel for Saint Matthew, a lion for Saint Mark, a bull for Saint Luke and an eagle for Saint John. Other carvings depict Abraham's sacrifice (

Binding of Isaac The Binding of Isaac (), or simply "The Binding" (), is a story from Book of Genesis#Patriarchal age (chapters 12–50), chapter 22 of the Book of Genesis in the Hebrew Bible. In the biblical narrative, God in Abrahamic religions, God orders A ...

), the Pascal lamb, the

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, ''The Last Supper (Leonardo), The Last Supper'' (1495-1498). Mural, tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic ...

and Saint Peter's denial.

The porch

In the church porch are two statues in Kersanton stone attributed to Roland Doré. They depict

John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( – ) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. Christians have traditionally identified him with John the Apostle, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter, although there is no consensus on how ...

with the letters "I" and "P" inscribed on a shield and

Thomas the Apostle Thomas the Apostle (; , meaning 'the Twin'), also known as Didymus ( 'twin'), was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus according to the New Testament. Thomas is commonly known as "doubting Thomas" because he initially doubted the resurrection of ...

with "M" and "G" inscribed.

Altarpieces

There are three altarpieces in the Saint Yves church. The

Rosary The Rosary (; , in the sense of "crown of roses" or "garland of roses"), formally known as the Psalter of Jesus and Mary (Latin: Psalterium Jesu et Mariae), also known as the Dominican Rosary (as distinct from other forms of rosary such as the ...

altarpiece has a high-relief panel showing the

Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

giving the

to Saint Dominic and Saint Catherine of Sienna. A statue of

Saint Anne According to apocrypha, as well as Christianity, Christian and Islamic tradition, Saint Anne was the mother of Mary, mother of Jesus, Mary, the wife of Joachim and the maternal grandmother of Jesus. Mary's mother is not named in the Bible's Gosp ...

stands on one side of this altarpiece and a statue of Saint Charles Borromée stands on the other side. The altarpiece dedicated to the "Trépassé" (those who have died) was given to the church by the Dominican friars at Morlaix. It depicts the baby Jesus surrounded by flames and watched by three monks of the

Dominican Order The Order of Preachers (, abbreviated OP), commonly known as the Dominican Order, is a Catholic Church, Catholic mendicant order of pontifical right that was founded in France by a Castilians, Castilian priest named Saint Dominic, Dominic de Gu ...

and three

Augustinians Augustinians are members of several religious orders that follow the Rule of Saint Augustine, written about 400 A.D. by Augustine of Hippo. There are two distinct types of Augustinians in Catholic religious orders dating back to the 12th–13 ...

. The Holy Father is shown at the top and at the base are scenes from the Virgin Mary's life.

Statuary

The church has many old statues including those of Saint Thomas and Saint John in stone, and wood carvings depicting the Holy Father, the Virgin Mary, Saint Paul Aurélien, Saint René, Saint Anne, Saint Etienne, Saint Yves, Saint

Paul the Apostle Paul, also named Saul of Tarsus, commonly known as Paul the Apostle and Saint Paul, was a Apostles in the New Testament, Christian apostle ( AD) who spread the Ministry of Jesus, teachings of Jesus in the Christianity in the 1st century, first ...

and Saint Peter. There is a stained glass window in the south aisle dating to 1868, the work of J.L. Nicolas.

Calvaries

The enclos paroissial at Plounéour-Ménez contains two calvaries. The first dates to 1540 and has back to back statues (statues géminées) of the Virgin Mary backed with Mary Magdalene, and John the Evangelist backed with Saint Peter. The second calvary in the west of the enclos dates to 1641. This has statues of a monk, probably Saint Benoît, and a saint thought to be Saint Divy. The calvary has two crosspieces and on the lower crosspiece are back to back statues of the Virgin Mary and Saint Peter and John the Evangelist and Saint Paul, all four by Roland Doré who also sculpted the depiction of Christ on the cross. The other statues on the 1641 calvary were added during the restoration of 1896

Note

There is also a cross at Kersimonet by Doré, this restored in 1885. Also at the nearby Manoir du Penhoat there is a fountain with the remains of a Doré calvary (Statues of Christ,

Saint Francis St. Francis or Saint Francis may refer to: Roman Catholic saints *Francis of Assisi (1181–1226), Italian founder of the Order of Friars Minor (Franciscans) *Francis of Paola (1416–1507), Italian (Calabrian) founder of the Order of the Minims * ...

of Assisi and

Saint James the Greater James the Great ( Koinē Greek: Ἰάκωβος, romanized: ''Iákōbos''; Aramaic: ܝܥܩܘܒ, romanized: ''Yaʿqōḇ''; died AD 44) was one of the Twelve Apostles of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was the second of the apostles t ...

)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Plouneour Churches in Finistère Calvaries in Brittany Parish closes in Brittany