Quimper and its cathedral

Who this place suits

With family

9/10

As a couple

9/10

With friends

8/10

Solo

9/10

With a dog

7/10

Reduced mobility

6/10

These scores are calculated from what the page records: official rating, facilities, difficulty, duration and location. They are a guide, not a substitute for contacting the venue, especially about accessibility.

About

Quimper takes its name from the Breton Kemper, meaning confluence. Three rivers meet here, the Odet, the Steïr and the Frout, and the whole town makes sense from there: the flower-lined quays, the footbridges, the bishop’s centre squeezed between the rivers, and the districts climbing towards Mont Frugy. The historic capital of Cornouaille, the prefecture of Finistère and a Ville d’art et d’histoire since 1989, it is above all a town best explored on foot, from one monument to the next, over a few hundred metres. At its heart stands Saint-Corentin cathedral, whose two spires are the landmark of the whole town. The building was not built in one go: it tells the story of six centuries of work. The Gothic choir was begun in 1239 by Bishop Raynaud, on the site of a Romanesque choir, on the model of the great cathedrals of the Île-de-France. Its vaults were only completed in 1410, as the War of the Breton Succession long slowed the work. In 1424, Bishop Bertrand de Rosmadec began the nave and the two west towers, finished around 1460. And the spires, the ones everyone photographs, are not medieval at all: they date from 1854 to 1856, by the Quimper architect Joseph Bigot, and were largely funded by a subscription from the townspeople, the “sous de saint Corentin”. The whole building is about 92 metres long and rises to more than 75 metres. Step into the nave and look towards the far end: the choir is out of line. It is the most talked-about curiosity in Brittany, and nobody knows why. One symbolic tradition sees in it the tilted head of Christ on the cross, a lovely reading but never proven. A technical explanation suggests the search for stable ground, away from the damp land of the Odet. Recent research points rather to an existing chapel of Notre-Dame that the new choir had to work around. Sources do not even agree on the size of the shift, from two and a half to about ten degrees depending on how it is measured. The interior holds another surprise: the restoration carried out at the end of the 20th century uncovered the old paintwork, yellow and red ochre on the ribs, and you realise that medieval cathedrals were not the grey stone buildings we imagine. The town behind the cathedral is as rewarding as the monument. Seventy-three half-timbered houses survive, from the 16th to the 19th century, clustered around Rue Kéréon, which offers the finest view of the spires, and Place Terre-au-Duc. These two hubs are no accident: in the Middle Ages, Quimper was divided between the power of the bishop, in the walled town, and that of the Duke of Brittany, across the Steïr. Ramparts survive near the Jardin de la Retraite, where the shelter of the walls creates a microclimate in which banana trees and palms grow a few steps from the cathedral. Yet the oldest part of Quimper lies elsewhere, a twenty-minute walk down the Odet. At Locmaria, a Gallo-Roman port developed from the 1st century, with its iron, bronze and pottery workshops, and its Romanesque church from the 11th and 12th centuries is among the oldest monuments in town. It was also here that, in 1690, Jean-Baptiste Bousquet set up his workshop and Quimper faience was born, more than three centuries of production that is still alive today. Antiquity, bishop’s city, faience: walking down the river, you travel through the town in the order of its history.

What you will see

• A 92-metre Gothic cathedral, built from the 13th to the 19th century
• The choir out of line with the nave, an architectural mystery never solved
• Spires from 1854-1856, funded by a subscription from the townspeople
• The statue of King Gradlon between the two towers, put back in 1858
• Medieval paintwork uncovered during restoration: the stone was not grey
• Late 15th-century stained glass, with the kneeling donors of Cornouaille

Practical information

Address

Place Saint-Corentin, 29000 Quimper

Public transport

Quimper station, with links to Paris, Rennes, Lorient and Vannes among others; ten to fifteen minutes’ walk to the cathedral, following the Odet and then the spires. The QUB City electric shuttle is free, and the whole QUB network is free for everyone at weekends; check before you come

Parking

About 5,600 spaces in the centre, nearly 2,200 of them free, according to the town. Half an hour free on the street with a ticket or the app, and several car parks offer one to two hours free, more near the station. For a full day, choose a long-stay or outlying car park and explore the centre on foot

Pets

Exploring outdoors works very well with a dog on a lead. Indoor access depends on each site: do not count on taking a pet into the cathedral or the museums

Accessibility

The historic centre is fairly accessible on its main streets, and the cathedral is accessible at its main level. Cobbles, a few slopes and the constraints of old buildings remain difficulties, and the Jardin de la Retraite has steps between its areas. The Musée départemental breton has accessibility equipment

Best time

Spring and September for the gardens and flower-lined quays. Morning for a quiet cathedral, late afternoon for the old streets. A great destination in rainy weather

Frequently asked questions

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