St-Thomas-Becket-Landerneau-20060523-012

St Thomas' Church () is located at

Landerneau Landerneau (; , ) is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in north-western France. It lies at the mouth of the Elorn River which divides the Breton provinces of Cornouaille and Léon, east of Brest. The name is from Lan Ter ...

in the

arrondissement of Brest The arrondissement of Brest is an arrondissement of France in the Finistère department in the Brittany region. It has 77 communes. Its population is 381,226 (2021), and its area is . Composition The communes of the arrondissement of Brest, an ...

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, dedicated to

Saint Thomas of Canterbury Thomas Becket (), also known as Saint Thomas of Canterbury, Thomas of London and later Thomas à Becket (21 December 1119 or 1120 – 29 December 1170), served as Lord Chancellor from 1155 to 1162, and then as Archbishop of Canterbury fr ...

, was built between 1607 and 1669. The church is 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 1932. Eglise Saint-Thomas-de-Cantorbéry

History

The clock tower was built in 1607 and on the small bell-tower attached to the sacristy, the date 1669 is inscribed. The church was listed on the 11 May 1932. Only the church and ossuary remain of the original parish enclosure. The original sanctuary or priory dates back to around 1200 when it was established by Hervé 1st of Léon and dedicated to Saint Thomas Becket, who had been assassinated by Henry II of England. Historians suggest that the choice of Becket as the patron saint was a demonstration of Hervé 1st's determination to avoid English domination and to remove the stigma left by his father's defeat and death at the hands of the English in 1167. When Brittany began to prosper in the 16th and 17th centuries, the existing church was replaced by something more substantial and the resultant church included a bell tower with porch, a

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

with five

transepts A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform ("cross-shaped") churches, in particular within the Romanesque and Gothic Christian church architectu ...

and two

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

s and a flat

chevet In architecture, an apse (: apses; from Latin , 'arch, vault'; from Ancient Greek , , 'arch'; sometimes written apsis; : apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an '' exedra''. In Byzan ...

in the

Flamboyant Gothic Flamboyant () is a lavishly-decorated style of Gothic architecture that appeared in France and Spain in the 15th century, and lasted until the mid-sixteenth century and the beginning of the Renaissance.Encyclopedia Britannica, "Flamboyant style ...

style, so typical of the region's churches in the 16th century. The Église Saint-Houardon is also an important church in Landerneau.

The porch

The arched porch has a leaf-shaped keystone and has three niches topped with the carving of a crescent moon, a design attributed to Philibert Delorme and common to the area. The porch interior has 12 niches to accommodate statues of the apostles but these niches are empty. There is however a stoup carved from Kersanton stone, this having a fluted bowl.

The sablières

These have both Renaissance type motifs with masks, putti and vases and some more bizarre and humorous carvings such as a sow drinking from a barrel whilst a woman has taken a knife and attempts to carve a piece from the sow's bottom.

The altar

This takes the shape of a tomb. The altar was built in 1711 and is surmounted by a five-lancet window, and on one side of the altar there is a statue of

and on the other

Saint Blaise Blaise of Sebaste (, ''Hágios Blásios''; martyred 316 AD) was a physician and bishop of Sivas, Sebastea in historical Lesser Armenia (modern Sivas, Turkey) who is venerated as a Christian saint and martyr. He is counted as one of the Fourteen ...

. Under each statue there is a bas-relief depicting their martyrdoms. Above the steps of the altar are two reliefs. One depicts the Last Supper and the second Jesus washing the disciples' feet.

Statues

The church has many fine statues in the nave and choir areas. There is a sculpture in wood of the Virgin Mary dating from 1430 to 1450 and a statue in Kersanton stone dating from the 16th century. File:Sainte Anne-LANDERNEAU.jpg, Statue of Saint Anne. She holds the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus File:Vierge mère couchée-LANDERNEAU.jpg, Wood carving depicting the Virgin Mary

The ossuary

The ossuary dates to 1635 and stands on the west side of the church. It is dedicated to Saint Cadou, a 16th-century monk. The building's façade has four windows separated by ionic

pilasters In architecture, a pilaster is both a load-bearing section of thickened wall or column integrated into a wall, and a purely decorative element in classical architecture which gives the appearance of a supporting column and articulates an ext ...

Gallery of images

File:Clocher de Saint Thomas-LANDERNEAU..jpg, Another view of the bell tower File:Quai-Leon-Landerneau-20060523-019.jpg, View of church from the Quai Leon File:Breizh 29 - landerne - karnel iliz sant tomaz 01.jpg, The ossuary File:Ossuary-St-Cadou-Landerneau-Death-20060523-009.jpg, An

ankou Ankou ( Breton: ''an Ankoù'') is a servant of death in Breton, Cornish (''an Ankow'' in Cornish), and Welsh (''yr Angau'' in Welsh). Background Ankou appears as a man or skeleton wearing a black robe and a large hat that conceals his f ...

on the ossuary wall.

References

{{coord, 48.4490, -4.2490, display=title Churches in Finistère