Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The capitals of the nave's
columns
are carved masterpieces by several sculptors of
saints and Bible scenes. All are worth studying (the guidebook sold at the entry identifies
each scene). Here are some you might easily recognize. Start on the right aisle and locate
the well-known “Mystical Mill” (fourthcolumn), showing OldTestament Moses andNew
Testament Paul working together to fill sacks with grain (and, metaphorically, the Bible
with words).Cross tothe left aisle andfindDavid andGoliath (fourthcolumn), Adam and
Eve (ninth column), and Peter Freed from Prison (10th and final column).
Thelightattheendofthetunnel-likenaveisthe
choir
(altararea),radiatingabright-
er,blue-graylight.ConstructedwhenGothicwastherage,thechoirhaspointedarchesand
improved engineering, but the feel is monotone and sterile.
In the right transept stands a statue of the woman this church was dedicated to—not
the Virgin Mary (Jesus' mother) but one of Jesus' disciples, Mary Magdalene. She cradles
an alabaster jar of ointment she used (according to some Bible interpretations) to anoint
Jesus.
Go down into the
crypt
for the ultimate medieval experience in one of Europe's
greatest medieval churches. You're entering the foundations of the earlier ninth-century
church that monks built here on the hilltop after Vikings had twice pillaged their church at
thebaseofthehill.Noticetheroughfloor,andpauseonapewtoreflect onthepure,time-
less scene. Notice the utter simplicity of these capitals compared to those you saw earli-
er. File past the small container with the
relics of Mary Magdalene.
In medieval times,
Vézelay claimed to possess Mary's entire body, but the relics were later damaged and
scattered by anti-Catholic Huguenots (16th century) and Revolutionaries (18th century),
leaving only a few pieces.
Are they really her mortal remains? We only have legends—many different ver-
sions—that first appeared in the historical record around
A.D.
1000. The most popular le-
gends say that Mary Magdalene traveled to Provence, where she died, and that her bones
werebroughtfromtherebyamonktosavethemfromMuslim pirates. Inthe11thcentury,
theabbotsofVézelayheavilymarketedthenotionthatthesewereMary'srelics,andwhen
the pope authenticated it in 1058, tourism boomed.
Vézelay prospered until the mid-13th century, when King Charles of Anjou an-
nounced that Mary's body was not in Vézelay, but had been found in another town.
Vézelay's relics suddenly looked bogus, and pilgrims stopped coming. For the next five
centuries, the church fell into disrepair and then was vandalized by secularists in the
Revolution. The church was restored (1840-1860) by a young architect named Eugène
Viollet-le-Duc, who would later revamp Notre-Dame in Paris and build the base of the
Statue of Liberty.
