CROIX CHÂTRE

These crosses, also known as passion crosses in other regions, are called “Châtres” in the Pays de Retz. These objects provide historical and ethnological evidence of popular art and faith, at a time when the Church undertook a campaign to re-Christianise the population in the aftermath of the Revolution, at a time when our region, terribly scarred by the war, was getting back on its feet and counting its dead. It is assumed that these crosses pay tribute to those massacred by the infernal columns. On these crosses, the elements of the Passion of Christ are represented: pliers, hammers, spears and ladders. Christ himself is not present. It is thought that Savenay may have been the centre of manufacture for these crosses. You will find a superb cross near the church in Corsept. It appears to have been erected to honour the memory of Thomas Lacombe, rector of Corsept, who was drowned in the Loire on 17 November 1793 by Carrier. It was restored in the late 1980s. To find out more about the castellated crosses in the area. >>>Pets allowed