Basilique Saint-Sauveur, Dinan

The Saint-Sauveur de Dinan Basilica is a Roman Catholic religious building located in Dinan, France. It is historically one of the two parish churches of the city, the other being the church of Saint-Malo.

The oldest parts of the building were built in the 12th century. A reconstruction campaign started in 1480 added a northern aisle to the nave and completely rebuilt the chevet and transept. The upper parts of the façade were also rebuilt. Since the work had to be interrupted, the southern wall of the nave and the lower parts of the facade remain from the Romanesque church.

This campaign of reconstruction is a good indicator of the dynamism of the city at the end of the Middle Ages. The decoration of the radiating chapels, which is one of the fruits of it, testifies to the mixing of Gothic and Renaissance forms in Brittany at the beginning of the 16th century. However, the collapse of the bell tower in 1547 led to modifications of the church, and in particular to renounce the vaulting of the choir, which was therefore covered with a panelled roof.

The church has also become a place of Marian devotion to Our Lady of the Virtues, a 15th century bas-relief formerly kept at the Cordeliers convent in the city. This representation of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary was the object of local veneration and led to the building being erected as a minor basilica by Pope Pius XII on May 23, 1954.

In addition to this relief, the building retains a fairly rich furniture, including the heart cenotaph of Bertrand du Guesclin.