Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
The locations of the actions of
The Da Vinci
Code are not made up. The present
topic is the scientific story behind the real scenes of several of the novel's actions,
those that take place on the Paris meridian. As I have described, this true story is as
extraordinary as - possibly more extraordinary than - Dan Brown's fiction. Like the
novel, the true story is one of adventure, exploration, danger, attempted murder,
murder, foreign travel, political intrigue, religious conspiracy, kidnapping, hostage-
taking, escape, romance, love, sex, war, revolution, robbery, lies and deception. The
true story is also a story of persistence, dedication, success, achievement, interna-
tional agreement and honor - and the advance of scientific knowledge.
I am not the only one to have sought out something of what lies behind the
The
Da Vinci Code
. Modern-day pilgrims, the novel under arm, can be seen visiting key
places in France that are the scenes of action in the novel. There are organised tours
of these places. The operators of the Eurostar train that runs between London and
Paris said in 2004 that this had been a good year for the number of its rail passen-
gers, mentioning that this was in part due to the effect of the then newly-published
novel, driving the curious to the French capital. Likewise, the number of visitors to
the Louvre Museum doubled in 2004, the year after the topic was published, and
increased again to 8.35 million in 2005, when the film of the topic was released.
One place of pilgrimage for those interested in
The Da Vinci Code
is the Church
of St Sulpice in the St Germain district of Paris, where Pierre Le Monnier built his
meridiana
(Chapter 4). The main entrance to the church is at the top of a steep,
wide set of stone steps, above the Place de St. Sulpice. Here, in the topic, the albino
monk, Silas, gets out of his black Audi and walks up the steps. Greeted by the nun,
Sister Sandrine, he says, chillingly, “I prefer to pray alone.” In reality he has come
to visit the meridiana, though not for its scientific interest, but to search for a clue
to the location of the Holy Grail.
Brown adds fictional drama and mysticism to the Church of St Sulpice by saying
that it was built over the ruins of a temple dedicated to the Egyptian goddess Isis.
This is not so, and a rather huffy notice posted in the Church in 2004 disputed the
claim of a “certain recent popular novel” that the Church lies over a pagan temple.
Further posters go to some lengths to disprove other details of
The Da Vinci Code
.
Certainly no temple walls can be discerned among the Romanesque walls and
columns of the 12th century crypt built among the foundations of the Church. But
when Silas observes that the Church is stark and cold, almost barren, this gives a
good impression of the architecture and layout of its interior.
Silas kneels before the altar at the intersection of the two axes of the cross-
shaped plan of the Church, the nave (the longer axis running west-east) and the
transept (running north-south). He notes the thin, polished strip of brass glistening
in the gray, granite floor, with graduated marks like a ruler. The path of the strip
makes its way across the floor, slanting at a rather awkward angle to the transept
axis. When it reaches the north wall of the transept, the line is continued vertically
along the axis of a specially constructed pillar, or obelisk. It is Egyptian-like in
appearance, a marble pillar on a pedestal, narrowing towards the top. I suppose that
it was in part the Egyptian appearance that suggested to Dan Brown that there might
be a vestige of a pagan temple below the foundations of the Church. Its shape is in
