Guimiliau Parish close, Parish close in Guimiliau, France

Guimiliau Parish close is a walled ensemble around the church of Saint-Miliau, built in the 16th and 17th centuries. It comprises the church with its bell tower, a single funerary chapel or ossuary, a triumphal gate topped by two horsemen, and a granite calvary. The calvary, carved between 1581 and 1588, stands on an octagonal base with four buttresses and bears around 200 figures in some 25 religious scenes, rising to a single cross flanked by Mary, Saint James, Saint Peter and Saint Ivo.

The parish close grew from the flax trade's profits in the 16th and 17th centuries. The calvary was carved in blue granite between 1581 and 1588, its 80 figures in 16th-century dress, apparently more Spanish than French in style, perhaps because Spanish troops were in Brittany during the Wars of the League. The church was rebuilt in Flamboyant Gothic and Renaissance style in the early 17th century, keeping only its 1530 bell; the triumphal arch dates from 1669.

The parish close grew rich from the linen trade in the 16th and 17th centuries, and its carvings record that wealth. The south porch, built between 1606 and 1617, rests on two Ionic and two Corinthian columns and carries a statue of Saint Miliau above rosettes and reliefs of the Apostles, Eve, Cain and Abel, the Nativity and the Flight into Egypt. The triumphal arch was called Porz ar maro, "gate of death", because it led to the cemetery.

The complex lies in the centre of Guimiliau, in Finistère. The calvary, the triumphal gate and the church stand close together within the walled enclosure, so the whole circuit can be walked on foot. The calvary has a platform once reached by a stair for outdoor masses; look for the four Evangelists' symbols at the ends of its buttresses.

The south porch, added between 1606 and 1617, is held up by two Ionic and two Corinthian columns and crowned by a statue of Saint Miliau. Its panels show the Temptation of Eve, Eve giving birth and Adam at work, the offerings of Cain and Abel, the Flight into Egypt and the Circumcision, with figures above carrying the instruments of the Passion.