Abbatiale Sainte-Croix, Quimperlé

Sainte-Croix Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey located in the town of Quimperlé, in the French department of Finistère in the region of Brittany.

Tradition indicates that it was founded in 1029 by Saint Gurloës thanks to a donation from the Count of Cornouaille Alain Canhiart; in reality, the foundation probably took place in the years 1040-1050. It was one of the powerful abbeys of Brittany and had many priories and other dependencies. Placed under the regime of commendation in 1553, the abbey declined somewhat, until it was taken over by the congregation of Saint-Maur in 1665.

The abbey was suppressed during the French Revolution. It had a large library, rich in ancient and precious manuscripts; this literary treasure was then plundered and dispersed. Only the cartulary of Sainte-Croix de Quimperlé was saved from destruction by Le Guillou, doctor in Quimperlé. The buildings were preserved but reallocated: the abbey church became a parish church, and the conventual buildings were transformed into public buildings: they housed the court of first instance and the gendarmerie station. The church is classified as a historical monument by the list of 1840 and the cloister is registered in 1926.

However, the bell tower built at the top of the rotunda by the Maurists weakened it, and the restoration work could not prevent it from collapsing on March 21, 1862 at noon. It destroyed most of the church in its fall, leaving only the monks' choir and the crypt below intact. The building was rebuilt from 1864 on plans by Émile Boeswillwald by the diocesan architect Joseph Bigot.

The abbey church, built at the end of the 11th century, is a rare example of a Romanesque church with a centered plan; in Brittany, the only other case is the rotunda of Lanleff. These plans are inspired by the rotunda of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. However, the present rotunda is only a reconstitution of the previous building. The monks' choir and its crypt bear witness to the quality of the architecture of the original church. The original capitals can still be seen there, as well as, in the apse, the animation of the wall by blind arcatures.

The church has a wealth of furnishings, including many objects protected as historical monuments. Some of them, such as the pulpit or the high altar, were made for the newly rebuilt church in the second half of the 19th century; others, coming from elsewhere, were installed there later; others still remain from the original building: this is the case of the tomb of Saint Gurloës, located in the crypt, and of the furniture and the wall decorations of the sacristy.