Holy place

On some mornings, the basilica of Vézelay seems to float like a large stone ship on a sea of mist, emerging from the Cure valley. When the sun rises, it glows with a golden light.

It is a beautiful symbol of the magic and mystery of this place. We often associate the concept of 'holy' with religion, but it extends further: to being healthy, whole, and one. It is a deeply human desire. Long before Benedictine monks built their abbey here (at the end of the 9th century), people experienced this 'eternal hill' as a place of empowerment. It is said to be a junction of earthly energies: underground water currents and ley lines (invisible energy channels across the earth's surface). Dolmens may also have been placed here to bundle these energies and thus heal body and mind.

Life in the small, quiet abbey on the hill changes dramatically when the (supposed) relics of Mary Magdalene are brought there. Soon, stories begin to circulate that these relics heal people. This attracts more and more pilgrims, as well as trade, money and power. After a major fire in the old abbey church, a large new pilgrim church is built from 1120 onwards: the current basilica (official honorary title for a special church).

Towards the light

In many spiritual traditions, hills and mountains have a special meaning. It is as if the earth reaches towards the heavens. Earthly energies connect with those of the cosmos.

This is also the case in Vézelay. For the monks, the sunlight was the ultimate symbol of the divine. They therefore oriented their abbey church towards the path of the sun, just as their distant predecessors had linked the Christian high days to it. Christmas, the birth of Christ, coincides almost exactly with the winter solstice (the longest night). Easter, the resurrection of Christ after his death on the cross, falls shortly after the spring equinox (day = night). The birth of the prophet John the Baptist falls shortly after the summer solstice (longest day). The church is built in such a way that these turning points are uniquely highlighted. Around the feast day of John, for example, the sun projects a path through the middle of the basilica, like a magical invitation to the pilgrim: come and go towards the light.

The monks built their church on an ancient place of empowerment and in accordance with an ancient tradition: already thousands of years earlier, sacred places had been built in relation to the sun. A well-known example is the stone circle at Stonehenge (England, circa 2300 BC).

Image

Tip: go on a pilgrimage through the seasons, inspired by the large tympanum and the light path of the basilica of Vézelay.

Transformation

The path of the sun determines the rhythm of the seasons and of nature: birth, growth and evolution, death and new life.

After the spring equinox, the days noticeably lengthen and nature blossoms. On the first Sunday after the first full moon, Christians celebrate Easter: the resurrection of Christ after his death on the cross. Mary Magdalene was the first witness to this. The basilica is built in such a way that during this period, the light of the rising sun falls through the large windows of the choir, growing ever stronger. It fills the space as a powerful symbol of transformation, of new life. The basilica is named after that first witness: Sainte Marie-Madeleine.

The Christ on the large tympanum also calls for new life, wholeness and harmony. He does not threaten with a final judgement, but invites, with his arms wide open. It is beautiful imagery from the 12th century, inspired by even older stories. At the same time, it depicts a vision of everywhere and always: a good life, in connection with yourself, with others and with the Other.

Frame story

Vézelay lies like an island between forests and fields. In summer, you walk past large rolls of straw to the basilica. There too, on the large tympanum, you can see a man bringing in the harvest. Another is pruning a vineyard, as is still done around Vézelay in spring. The techniques have changed, but we immediately understand these images from the 12th century.

Other images are further distanced from us: monsters, people with giant ears, mammals with fish tails. The builders were inspired not only by Bible stories but also by: the animistic traditions of Celtic Christianity, the mythical creatures of the Assyrians, plant motifs from the Far East, the desert fathers and astrologers of Egypt, classical knowledge of the golden ratio ('the divine proportion'), Roman basilicas and... Islam. They turned the basilica into a grandiose frame story about the mystery of existence, with clues that are often puzzling to us today.

In our hostel, pilgrims regularly told us how 'something' in Vézelay had touched them deeply. It was a shared experience, even though their backgrounds, insights and convictions varied greatly. It is the magical power of this place, which can still resonate intensely with our feelings today.

Crusades

In the mid-12th century, Western Christianity experienced an enormous boom, economically, architecturally, culturally and militarily. Among other things, this led to offensives against Islamic rulers in what is now Spain and Portugal (the Reconquista = reconquest) and in the Holy Land (Crusades).

Vézelay is also growing and flourishing. It is home to perhaps 10,000 residents. The basilica is once again covered in scaffolding, this time to build a narthex to accommodate the flow of pilgrims. The then new Liber Sancti Jacobi (Book of Saint James) mentions Vézelay as an important starting point for the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela, also linked to the Reconquista. At Easter 1046, Bernard of Clairvaux, an influential abbot, preaches the Second Crusade at the foot of the hill. The open hand of Christ, so inviting on the tympanum, clenches into an iron fist with the crusaders. The call for mercy is transformed into a battle cry. The Crusade ends in failure.

In 1946, 900 years after that sermon, Vézelay became the gathering point for a large 'crusade' for peace. German prisoners of war also took part. Some of the wooden crosses carried at that time are still in the basilica.

Labels

On 26 January, Vézelay and its surroundings were awarded the Grand Site de France label. The aim of the label is to ‘protect natural monuments and areas of artistic, historical, scientific, legendary or picturesque interest’. This is the website of the Grand Site de Vézelay (French).

Much earlier, in 1979, the basilica and the hill of Vézelay were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In 1998, Vézelay was inscribed on that list again, but now as a historical monument on the pilgrimage routes through France to Santiago de Compostela.

Vézelay is also recognised as one of the most beautiful villages in France (Les plus beaux villages de France).

This is the web site of the Tourist Office.