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A detour in Cathar Country: myth, mystery and lost treasure.

Time of past OR future Camino
VdlP(2012) Madrid(2014)Frances(2015) VdlP(2016)
VdlP(2017)Madrid/Sanabres/Frances reverse(2018)
Last year, cycling part of the Voie des Piémonts from SE France, I detoured south of Carcassonne to the village of Rennes le Chateau. It's a place of some notoriety, not least because it featured prominently in a 1980's best-seller called The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, a completely over-the-top conspiracy theory opus, which allegedly inspired Dan Brown to write his best selling - and even more outlandish - The Da Vinci Code.
However, Rennes Le Chateau is a deliciously mysterious place, steeped in very real history. There used to be a Visigoth castle here, and it was for a time the “capital” of a small Visigoth kingdom. The top of the mountain had been a Celtic sacred site, and the Romans apparently sited small temple of Isis there. The Visigoths built a Christian chapel on the site in the 6th century. The present church was built on top of that in early medieval times and retained a few elements of it.
Now, in 1885 a new young priest ofvery limited means was appointed to this little parish, Abbé Saunière. For some years he lived a quiet life on his isolated mountain ministering to his 80 parishioners, supported by a tiny stipend. The old church was very delapidated by then, and he started some simple renovations. In the process he took off the altar stone, which rested on two stone Visigoth pillars from the original chapel. One of them was hollow, and inside he found parchment documents, some supposedly written in code. At the same time his bell ringer found a glass vial containing a document concealed inside a hole under the wooden ballustrade of the pulpit stair. Saunière never revealed what he learned, (if anything) from these discoveries.
But we do know that he became a very wealthy man almost overnight. He completely renovated the church, built himself an impressive mansion/presbytery, with an orangery and formal garden, then a sort of folly, a look-out called the Tour Magdala, and he even paid for the construction of a road up to the village, (which was handy for me).
The tower was a homage to Mary Magdalen, and the church itself is named after her.
Apparently he must have spent millions of francs on his renovations and building programs. The place is a gem.
When the Bishop of Carcassonne found out about his profligate spending, he sacked him, but Saunière appealed to the Vatican and was reinstated. Much has been subsequently made of that fact. Skulduggery indeed!

The plot thickens here, because there is a curiously ubiquitous devotion to the Magdalene in France. One suggested origin for this dates back to, wait for it, the CATHARS, who revered her, and believed that she was the wife of Jesus, and had been smuggled out of Palestine and brought to southern France and safety after the events recounted in the Gospels.
Here it all gets a bit dodgy, because the legends in these parts dating back a thousand years associate Mary Magdalen with the Holy Grail, whatever that was.
Enter some 20th century French and British researchers who maintained that the Holy Grail was in fact Mary’s child by Jesus. Then along comes Dan Brown, who rips off their ideas with his Da Vinci Code nonesense . (A couple of writers sued him, and lost at a trial at the Old Bailey).

It’s all a big mystery, and even the Knights Templar are mixed up in it too. A grand master of the Templars had an estate nearby, and no one knows what happened to the Templar treasure after they too were eradicated by the French King in the 14th century. (Accused heretics again, and certainly the order was fabulously wealthy). Was this the source of Saunière’s wealth?

I’d better shut up. I hope that wasn’t too incoherent.
Some pics.
Abbé Saunière's presbytery.jpeg Church of the Madeleine.jpeg Formal garden and orangery.jpeg Formal garden and orangery..jpeg Hiding place- Rennes.jpeg La Madeleine.jpeg
Saunière's chapel.jpeg Tour Magdala.jpeg Visigoth column.jpeg From Rennes les Bains and back.jpeg
 
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Last year, cycling part of the Voie des Piémonts from SE France, I detoured south of Carcassonne to the village of Rennes le Chateau. It's a place of some notoriety, not least because it featured prominently in a 1980's best-seller called The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, a completely over-the-top conspiracy theory opus, which allegedly inspired Dan Brown to write his best selling - and even more outlandish - The Da Vinci Code.
However, Rennes Le Chateau is a deliciously mysterious place, steeped in very real history. There used to be a Visigoth castle here, and it was for a time the “capital” of a small Visigoth kingdom. The top of the mountain had been a Celtic sacred site, and the Romans apparently sited small temple of Isis there. The Visigoths built a Christian chapel on the site in the 6th century. The present church was built on top of that in early medieval times and retained a few elements of it.
Now, in 1885 a new young priest ofvery limited means was appointed to this little parish, Abbé Saunière. For some years he lived a quiet life on his isolated mountain ministering to his 80 parishioners, supported by a tiny stipend. The old church was very delapidated by then, and he started some simple renovations. In the process he took off the altar stone, which rested on two stone Visigoth pillars from the original chapel. One of them was hollow, and inside he found parchment documents, some supposedly written in code. At the same time his bell ringer found a glass vial containing a document concealed inside a hole under the wooden ballustrade of the pulpit stair. Saunière never revealed what he learned, (if anything) from these discoveries.
But we do know that he became a very wealthy man almost overnight. He completely renovated the church, built himself an impressive mansion/presbytery, with an orangery and formal garden, then a sort of folly, a look-out called the Tour Magdala, and he even paid for the construction of a road up to the village, (which was handy for me).
The tower was a homage to Mary Magdalen, and the church itself is named after her.
Apparently he must have spent millions of francs on his renovations and building programs. The place is a gem.
When the Bishop of Carcassonne found out about his profligate spending, he sacked him, but Saunière appealed to the Vatican and was reinstated. Much has been subsequently made of that fact. Skulduggery indeed!

The plot thickens here, because there is a curiously ubiquitous devotion to the Magdalene in France. One suggested origin for this dates back to, wait for it, the CATHARS, who revered her, and believed that she was the wife of Jesus, and had been smuggled out of Palestine and brought to southern France and safety after the events recounted in the Gospels.
Here it all gets a bit dodgy, because the legends in these parts dating back a thousand years associate Mary Magdalen with the Holy Grail, whatever that was.
Enter some 20th century French and British researchers who maintained that the Holy Grail was in fact Mary’s child by Jesus. Then along comes Dan Brown, who rips off their ideas with his Da Vinci Code nonesense . (A couple of writers sued him, and lost at a trial at the Old Bailey).

It’s all a big mystery, and even the Knights Templar are mixed up in it too. A grand master of the Templars had an estate nearby, and no one knows what happened to the Templar treasure after they too were eradicated by the French King in the 14th century. (Accused heretics again, and certainly the order was fabulously wealthy). Was this the source of Saunière’s wealth?

I’d better shut up. I hope that wasn’t too incoherent.
Some pics.
View attachment 88111 View attachment 88112 View attachment 88120 View attachment 88113 View attachment 88114 View attachment 88115
View attachment 88116 View attachment 88117 View attachment 88118 View attachment 88119
I used to live within a few km of Rennes-leChâteau. It is indeed Templar country, and my tiny village was a Templar village. However, I read "Holy Blood Holy Grail" and - well, words fail me - it is supposition based on supposition based on supposition. In other words, rubbish (forgive me being candid). But it's an interesting area and the Cathar castles are magnificent, and the atmosphere engendered by the whole Cathar heresy and the savage repression (inter alia by Simon de Montfort) does lend a certain historical frisson.
 
I used to live within a few km of Rennes-leChâteau. It is indeed Templar country, and my tiny village was a Templar village. However, I read "Holy Blood Holy Grail" and - well, words fail me - it is supposition based on supposition based on supposition. In other words, rubbish (forgive me being candid). But it's an interesting area and the Cathar castles are magnificent, and the atmosphere engendered by the whole Cathar heresy and the savage repression (inter alia by Simon de Montfort) does lend a certain historical frisson.
I mention the HBHG book in the context of contributing to the widespread interest in Rennes. I am aware that its premise has been thoroughly debunked. However, I understand that there had been a couple of books written by French authors predating that about the mystery concerning Saunière's wealth. In the museum at Rennes they display this newspaper article from 1956
IMG_1727 (1).jpeg
 
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I for one still believe the Templar's Treasury was never recovered or stolen by the Vatican. Rather than one site as a repository how about many site with buried treasure?
 
The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
We walked the Cathar Way in 2014 from Port-La -Nouvelle on the coast to Foix
It was a wonderful journey and we visited each of the Cathar castles/settlements built on hills high above the ground and most needing a climb

The highlight...if I can call it that was the fortress of Montesegur where in 1244 at the siege of Montesegur, over 200 Cathars were burnt at the stake, just below the castle.
There is a memorial to them at the beginning of the path leading to the castle
It was a long climb up to this fortress and amazed us how so many could have survived there for so long
After Foix, we went to Carcossone ..an amazing and renovated fortress ..now mostly a tourist attraction
The history of the Cathars has always fascinated me....a sad and cruel time unfortunately in the history of the Catholic Church
 
More grounded reading about the Cathars — an old book, but a very good one:
I read that book soon after it was published in English. It was an absolutely fascinating and an eye opener into life, values and morals in mediaeval times.
 
how strange
I have been wanting to go to this area for a few years, and only today have been looking at a book recomended by a motorhoming website about the drive! I plan to take our motorhome, park up and do a few days walking, drive on repeat.
thanks for this great post.
another good book, (you may not see it as such, but it is very funny) is Rat Scabbies and the holy grail, by Christopher Dawes
 
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What fun to be reminded of this, I remember the BBC showing a programme about all this many years ago, it all seemed a load of tosh back then but certainly kicked off a lot of interest in the Cathars/Template and the spin off industry that was created.
 
We walked the Cathar Way in 2014 from Port-La -Nouvelle on the coast to Foix
It was a wonderful journey and we visited each of the Cathar castles/settlements built on hills high above the ground and most needing a climb
Couldn't agree more. The Cathar Trail is a fantastic walk: https://www.creme-de-languedoc.com/Languedoc/activities/sentier-cathar-trail.php you get to visit an amazing castle almost everyday.

The history is both fascinating and an utterly disturbing tale of crusades and genocide (the real history not the Holy Blood and Holy Grail stuff). We had a very memorable trip, more or less every night's accomodation was an adventure and we met some real characters.
 
I read that book soon after it was published in English. It was an absolutely fascinating and an eye opener into life, values and morals in mediaeval times.
@VNwalking + @Felice

Me too!!!! and now, to pass le deuxième confinement I'm re-reading it in french -a friend found an old copy in a charity shop and gave it to me as a challenge...
 
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Cathars aside, (a thread of their own?), this article, grounded in fact suggests a far more prosaic origin for Saunière's wealth.
 
That Saunière was just a scam artist is far less interesting then mysterious stories of hidden Templar treasure. ;)
From Paul's linked website:
While the notion that Saunière found some Visigothic artifacts of value beneath his church is certainly plausible, the absolute swamp of fabrication and fantasy that surrounds every part of this mystery makes it difficult to give any theory much credence. So perhaps, then, we should apply the rule of Occam’s Razor to cut through the baloney. What is the simplest and least complicated explanation for his wealth? Well, Saunière was a charming man and does appear to have accepted gifts from wealthy women. Moreover, during the last decade of his life, as Bishop de Beauséjour investigated him, charges of trafficking in masses led to the loss of his title. It appears that Saunière was collecting payment for prayers on a large scale.
Sigh. People.

I'm re-reading it in french -a friend found an old copy in a charity shop and gave it to me as a challenge...
I am told it is more complete than the translation. Bon chance!
(Someday I hope to have the time and the opportunity to do the same.)
 
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The one from Galicia (the round) and the one from Castilla & Leon. Individually numbered and made by the same people that make the ones you see on your walk.
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The legend of Mary Magdalene begins in France in the Camargue in the small town of Saintes-Marie-de-la-Mer where it is believed Mary Magdalene, Mary Salome (the mother of Santiago) and Mary Clopas arrived stranded in a small boat after the resurrection of Christ. They were all believed to have witnessed his rising from the tomb. They arrived with a dark skinned servant, Sarah, from Egypt who later was sainted and became the patron saint on the Roma who pay homage to her each year by convening in the thousand to honor her in an elaborate annual ceremony.
 
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Last year I took a coastal route from Nîmes to Béziers so I must have passed within 20km or so of Saintes Marie. I sadly missed out. Should have done more research.
 
Thank you for this post! We know the area very well and I knew of this trail but from years ago... it was a fabulous reminder and we've been pouring over the route this evening... we'll try and squeeze in 2 weeks on this route in 2021!
 
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Couldn't agree more. The Cathar Trail is a fantastic walk: https://www.creme-de-languedoc.com/Languedoc/activities/sentier-cathar-trail.php you get to visit an amazing castle almost everyday.
Last year, cycling part of the Voie des Piémonts from SE France, I detoured south of Carcassonne to the village of Rennes le Chateau. It's a place of some notoriety, not least because it featured prominently in a 1980's best-seller called The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, a completely over-the-top conspiracy theory opus, which allegedly inspired Dan Brown to write his best selling - and even more outlandish - The Da Vinci Code.
However, Rennes Le Chateau is a deliciously mysterious place, steeped in very real history. There used to be a Visigoth castle here, and it was for a time the “capital” of a small Visigoth kingdom. The top of the mountain had been a Celtic sacred site, and the Romans apparently sited small temple of Isis there. The Visigoths built a Christian chapel on the site in the 6th century. The present church was built on top of that in early medieval times and retained a few elements of it.
Now, in 1885 a new young priest ofvery limited means was appointed to this little parish, Abbé Saunière. For some years he lived a quiet life on his isolated mountain ministering to his 80 parishioners, supported by a tiny stipend. The old church was very delapidated by then, and he started some simple renovations. In the process he took off the altar stone, which rested on two stone Visigoth pillars from the original chapel. One of them was hollow, and inside he found parchment documents, some supposedly written in code. At the same time his bell ringer found a glass vial containing a document concealed inside a hole under the wooden ballustrade of the pulpit stair. Saunière never revealed what he learned, (if anything) from these discoveries.
But we do know that he became a very wealthy man almost overnight. He completely renovated the church, built himself an impressive mansion/presbytery, with an orangery and formal garden, then a sort of folly, a look-out called the Tour Magdala, and he even paid for the construction of a road up to the village, (which was handy for me).
The tower was a homage to Mary Magdalen, and the church itself is named after her.
Apparently he must have spent millions of francs on his renovations and building programs. The place is a gem.
When the Bishop of Carcassonne found out about his profligate spending, he sacked him, but Saunière appealed to the Vatican and was reinstated. Much has been subsequently made of that fact. Skulduggery indeed!

The plot thickens here, because there is a curiously ubiquitous devotion to the Magdalene in France. One suggested origin for this dates back to, wait for it, the CATHARS, who revered her, and believed that she was the wife of Jesus, and had been smuggled out of Palestine and brought to southern France and safety after the events recounted in the Gospels.
Here it all gets a bit dodgy, because the legends in these parts dating back a thousand years associate Mary Magdalen with the Holy Grail, whatever that was.
Enter some 20th century French and British researchers who maintained that the Holy Grail was in fact Mary’s child by Jesus. Then along comes Dan Brown, who rips off their ideas with his Da Vinci Code nonesense . (A couple of writers sued him, and lost at a trial at the Old Bailey).

It’s all a big mystery, and even the Knights Templar are mixed up in it too. A grand master of the Templars had an estate nearby, and no one knows what happened to the Templar treasure after they too were eradicated by the French King in the 14th century. (Accused heretics again, and certainly the order was fabulously wealthy). Was this the source of Saunière’s wealth?

I’d better shut up. I hope that wasn’t too incoherent.
Some pics.
View attachment 88111 View attachment 88112 View attachment 88120 View attachment 88113 View attachment 88114 View attachment 88115
View attachment 88116 View attachment 88117 View attachment 88118 View attachment 88119

The history is both fascinating and an utterly disturbing tale of crusades and genocide (the real history not the Holy Blood and Holy Grail stuff). We had a very memorable trip, more or less every night's accomodation was an adventure and we met some real characters.

Last year, cycling part of the Voie des Piémonts from SE France, I detoured south of Carcassonne to the village of Rennes le Chateau. It's a place of some notoriety, not least because it featured prominently in a 1980's best-seller called The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, a completely over-the-top conspiracy theory opus, which allegedly inspired Dan Brown to write his best selling - and even more outlandish - The Da Vinci Code.
However, Rennes Le Chateau is a deliciously mysterious place, steeped in very real history. There used to be a Visigoth castle here, and it was for a time the “capital” of a small Visigoth kingdom. The top of the mountain had been a Celtic sacred site, and the Romans apparently sited small temple of Isis there. The Visigoths built a Christian chapel on the site in the 6th century. The present church was built on top of that in early medieval times and retained a few elements of it.
Now, in 1885 a new young priest ofvery limited means was appointed to this little parish, Abbé Saunière. For some years he lived a quiet life on his isolated mountain ministering to his 80 parishioners, supported by a tiny stipend. The old church was very delapidated by then, and he started some simple renovations. In the process he took off the altar stone, which rested on two stone Visigoth pillars from the original chapel. One of them was hollow, and inside he found parchment documents, some supposedly written in code. At the same time his bell ringer found a glass vial containing a document concealed inside a hole under the wooden ballustrade of the pulpit stair. Saunière never revealed what he learned, (if anything) from these discoveries.
But we do know that he became a very wealthy man almost overnight. He completely renovated the church, built himself an impressive mansion/presbytery, with an orangery and formal garden, then a sort of folly, a look-out called the Tour Magdala, and he even paid for the construction of a road up to the village, (which was handy for me).
The tower was a homage to Mary Magdalen, and the church itself is named after her.
Apparently he must have spent millions of francs on his renovations and building programs. The place is a gem.
When the Bishop of Carcassonne found out about his profligate spending, he sacked him, but Saunière appealed to the Vatican and was reinstated. Much has been subsequently made of that fact. Skulduggery indeed!

The plot thickens here, because there is a curiously ubiquitous devotion to the Magdalene in France. One suggested origin for this dates back to, wait for it, the CATHARS, who revered her, and believed that she was the wife of Jesus, and had been smuggled out of Palestine and brought to southern France and safety after the events recounted in the Gospels.
Here it all gets a bit dodgy, because the legends in these parts dating back a thousand years associate Mary Magdalen with the Holy Grail, whatever that was.
Enter some 20th century French and British researchers who maintained that the Holy Grail was in fact Mary’s child by Jesus. Then along comes Dan Brown, who rips off their ideas with his Da Vinci Code nonesense . (A couple of writers sued him, and lost at a trial at the Old Bailey).

It’s all a big mystery, and even the Knights Templar are mixed up in it too. A grand master of the Templars had an estate nearby, and no one knows what happened to the Templar treasure after they too were eradicated by the French King in the 14th century. (Accused heretics again, and certainly the order was fabulously wealthy). Was this the source of Saunière’s wealth?

I’d better shut up. I hope that wasn’t too incoherent.
Some pics.
View attachment 88111 View attachment 88112 View attachment 88120 View attachment 88113 View attachment 88114 View attachment 88115
View attachment 88116 View attachment 88117 View attachment 88118 View attachment 88119
My favorite place in the area is Rennes les Baines, at least partly because I love hot springs. It's in a beautiful valley. Likely the baths and pool are closed because of COVID now.
 
Last year I took a coastal route from Nîmes to Béziers so I must have passed within 20km or so of Saintes Marie. I sadly missed out. Should have done more research.
Saintes Marie de la Mer is definitely worth a visit. Multi-layered history up to the present role in European gypsy life and German occupation during WWII.
 
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My favorite place in the area is Rennes les Baines, at least partly because I love hot springs. It's in a beautiful valley. Likely the baths and pool are closed because of COVID now.
I agree. I stayed in an airbnb there; the closest accommodation I could find to Rennes-le-Château
Rennes-les-Bains.jpeg
 
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That Saunière was just a scam artist is far less interesting then mysterious stories of hidden Templar treasure. ;)
Despite what I read on that website, @VNwalking, I find it impossible to believe that mass offerings could pay for his lavish lifestyle and beautiful backyard. More pics for those who are interested.
IMG_0426 2.jpeg Museum model of Saunière's %22domain%22.jpeg Terrace from orangery to Tour Magdala (1).jpeg Orangery and marble-paved terrace (1).jpeg
View from Tour Magdala (1).jpeg IMG_0447 2.jpeg
 
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So much to learn! Thank you for all these indications of something new to learn about. I am surrounded by books regarding me with disbelief - you will look elsewhere before giving us a chance??? I will. Hoax or not - I will take what I want and leave what I don’t. It is not likely that I will ever go there, but in my mind, yes, I look forward to reading about lots of references as above. Thank you.
 
When Berenguer Sauniere the Priest of Rennes-le-Chateau discovered the Parchments in his Altar Pillar he realised the symbol on Parchment 2 was a monogram and read ‘N Povsin’. He also saw the symbol on P1 - the ‘triangle with tails’ could be drawn through the heads of the Shepherds on Poussin’s 1638 ‘Arcadian’ Shepherds painting. He noted the second shepherd was pointing at the letter ‘R’ (followed by the ‘C’) in the word ARCADIA .... R-le-C - the first Shepherd. The heads of the Shepherds are hills, the painting is a map (see French map 2347 Quillan Alet-les-Bains - or Google Earth). The second shepherd is the low hill Bois du Lauzet, the 3rd is the hill Auriol and the tall shepherdess is the high hill Cardou (end of upper tail). A line drawn from R-le-C through Auriol heads straight for Rennes les Bains (the lower tail). The symbol on P2 also names the place of the Treasure.
Geoffrey
 

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