Notre-Dame-de-Victoire, Lorient
The Church of Our Lady of Victory (French: église Notre-Dame-de-Victoire) is a Roman Catholic parish church in central Lorient, France. It is the most important parish in the Lorient Country.
| Church of Our Lady of Victory | |
|---|---|
Église Notre-Dame-de-Victoire | |
 | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Roman Catholic |
| Region | Brittany |
| Status | Parish church |
| Location | |
| Municipality | Lorient |
| Country | France |
  Shown within Lorient | |
| Geographic coordinates | building 47°44′58″N 3°21′39″W |
| Architecture | |
| Architect(s) | Jean-Baptiste Hourlier |
| Completed | 1955 |
| Height (max) | 54 m (belltower) |
History
The building was completed in 1955,[1] after the 1943 bombings that destroyed the 1810 Church of Saint Louis. The name of the church (Our Lady of Victory) refers to the 1746 British raid on Lorient.
The church was initially designed in 1953 by Jean-Baptiste Hourlier,[2] who had won the 1926 Grand Prix de Rome and served as the deputy chief architect of the reconstruction of Lorient between 1946 and 1952.[1] The church was labelled an official "20th-century heritage" building (Patrimoine du XXe siècle).[1]
Architecture
The 54-meter-high concrete bell tower is the highest point of Lorient. Its top is reached by a staircase of 270 steps.[3]
Inside the apse, a fresco made by Nicolas Untersteller shows the Coronation of Mary.
The statues of the church were made by René Letourneur.
References
- Base Mérimée: Église Notre-Dame de la Victoire, Ministère français de la Culture. (in French)
- "Hourlier, Jean (16 octobre 1897 - 16 mars 1987)". INHA.fr (in French).
- "Tout en haut du clocher de Saint-Louis !". Ouest-France (in French). 23 August 2015.
Further reading
- Duval, Janick; Gouyet, Delphine (2006). Laissez-vous conter l'église ND-de-Victoire (PDF) (in French). Ville de Lorient. Retrieved 31 August 2012.