Calvary at Saint-Thégonnec

Saint-Thégonnec, a village in northern Finistère south-west of Morlaix, owns one of the richest parish closes in Brittany: a walled churchyard entered through a Renaissance triumphal gateway, with an ossuary chapel, the church of Notre-Dame and, at its heart, a calvary dated 1610. It is the youngest of the great Breton calvaries, carved when the great age of these stone ensembles was drawing to a close, and it was originally painted.

Compared with the older calvaries at Guimiliau or Plougastel, it is compact. The base is low and the scenes run in a single register, so nothing distracts from the crucifixion above. A pale granite shaft, knotted with stubs like a lopped tree trunk, carries two crosspieces and the cross itself: angels gather Christ's blood in chalices, horsemen flank him, and on the crosspieces the Virgin, Saint Peter and Saint John face outwards while a pietà with Saint Yves looks the other way. The two thieves hang on smaller crosses, the good one turning towards Christ and the bad one turning away. Most of the sculpture is attributed to the workshop of an anonymous master named after this village; the figure of Christ being mocked, blindfolded among his tormentors, is by Roland Doré, one of the best-known Breton sculptors of the period.

Around the base, about forty figures tell the Passion: the arrest, the flagellation with a soldier sticking out his tongue in cruel enjoyment, Pilate washing his hands, the procession to Golgotha with Simon of Cyrene helping to carry the cross, the entombment and the resurrection with its dozing guards. In a niche at the front stands Saint Thégonnec himself with a cart. Local legend tells that when wolves killed the stag pulling the stones for his church, the saint tamed one of them and put it in the harness instead.

The calvary was pulled down during the Revolution in 1794, but villagers hid most of the statues, and it was reassembled; a major restoration followed in 1970. The rest of the close repays the visit: the triumphal gate of 1587–1589, the ossuary chapel of 1676–1682 with a dramatic sculpted Entombment in its crypt, and the church with its carved pulpit of 1677, restored after a fire in 1998. The calvary and ossuary have been listed historic monuments since 1886.

Getting there

The parish close is in the centre of Saint-Thégonnec, about 11 km from Morlaix. Brest Bretagne Airport (BES) is about 36 km away. The close at Guimiliau lies roughly 5 km to the south-west, and the two are usually seen together.