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ChurchFinistère Relic

Église Saint-Mélar de Lanmeur (crypte et source)

Lanmeur

Dimensions
Romanesque crypt 8.78 m by 5.07 m, eight monolithic columns, 1.97 m beneath the vault
Period
Crypt of the last quarter of the 10th century (c. 975–1000); church rebuilt in 1904 after the demolition of the earlier building in 1902
What stands there
two columns carved in the round with plant motifs, interpreted as vine shoots symbolising a martyr's blood

One of the oldest Romanesque crypts in Brittany, dated to the end of the 10th century, was crossed by a natural spring that regularly flooded it — a semicircular basin was built in the 17th century to contain it, until the installation of sewers in 1967 dried up the phenomenon. It housed the relics of Prince Mélar, heir to the throne of Cornouaille, murdered and dispossessed by his uncle Rivod according to the hagiographical legend. Two of the eight monolithic columns bear a rare carved decoration, vine shoots in the round coiled around the shaft, which some commentators associate with the blood of the young martyr.

Further reading

Getting there : Free admission to the church and crypt

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

See it on the map OpenStreetMap Directions

Ambient sound

Église Saint-Mélar de Lanmeur (crypte et source)
Alainauzas · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Nearby

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In the same department

All places — Finistère (54).