Rennes le Chateau

10 Km from Esperaza. Rennes le Chateau is one of the most visited places in the Aude region. Legend has it that a large amount of treasure was buried here by the Visigoths and, due to a priest, Francois Beranger Saunière, becoming suddenly wealthy,many believe the secret to finding it lies in the area. A huge and intriguing subject that I can't possibly do justice to. Here are some links to people who specialise in the subject.

 An excellent Rennes le Chateau source by Marcus Williamson.

Opening times : Rennes le Chateau is a small village, only about 100 people live there, so out of season not too much is open. In season there are 2 restaurants open, Le pomme bleu and La Table De L'Abbe. There is also a bookstore with probably the best collection on Rennes le Chateau. L'Espace Beringer Sauniere, the main attraction, includes the Presbytery, the Villa Bethania and gardens, the Tower of Magdala and a video all about the legend of Rennes le Chateau. It is open all year long from 10am-7pm peak season and 10am-6pm off season. Admission 4 Euros for adults and 3 Euros under 18. Closed Christmas day and New Years day.

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THE VISITORS GUIDE FOR

RENNES-LE-CHATEAU

With the spectacular view-point of Rennes-le-Château, its natural defences and abundant sources, man has always lived on this ancient site . In 1880 there was a discovery of Neolithic graveyards proving man's presence here for over 3000 years.

The Gauls created an important commercial site with the natural crossroads they were well situated and it was easily defended by the high rocks. The name of Rennes-le-Château is believed to have come from the Gallic "Reda" meaning a "four wheeled chariot".

There are many Roman remains which can still be seen parts of the stone paths leading from Carcassonne towards Spain via Rennes-le-Chateau; the "roc du Bezu" and the "Col de St Louis"; chariot wheels; ancient coins bearing the heads of many emperors, and above all the consecrated holy baths in Rennes-les-Bains.

But it was the Visigoths, driven back by the Huns of central Europe who created the prosperous town of Rhedae mentioned by eminent historians. In 410, after having pillaged Rome and taken possession of the colossal treasure of Jerusalem which had been brought back by Titus in the year 10, the Visigoths occupied the whole south of Gaul and also Spain where they created the most powerful and brilliant kingdom of all the western world with Toulouse as their capital.

Convened to Christianity, highly civilised and talented builders,they made Rhedae throughout the centuries a complete stronghold,a powerful fortified town flanked by two citadels and encircled by a double set of ramparts. The fortresses sealed all means of access, protecting the oppidum with an impassable ring of 'castles' and towers linked by communication signals.

The 'Merovingians' or 'Franks', led by Clovis, defeated the Visigoths at Vouillé, set fire to Toulouse and pushed them back to Carcassonne, where they enclosed themselves. Carcassonne became their frontier town, and undoubtedly the Visigoths judged it easier to evacuate their fabulous treasure towards Rhedae which was much better defended.

One cannot contest the presence of the Merovingians in Rennes-le-château. Recently, when a mechanical digger was working on a road they discovered many tombstones from a Merovingian cemetery.

The Visigothic kingdom, considerably weakened and reduced to a piece of land stretching from Carcassonne to their new capital Toledo, was submerged by the sudden invasion of Arabs which Charles Martel stopped at Poitiers.

Without doubt Rhedae was saved, because a report by Bishop Theodulphe sent by Charlemagne, later in the 8th century to carry out a census of the important towns in the Midi, put it on an equal footing with Carcassonne and Narbonne.

When the Franks finally drove back the Arabs and Visigoths towards Spain, Charlemagne, who had become the all-powerful master of an immense empire gave the city of Carcassonne to one of his leaders, thus creating the first Count of Carcassonne with Rhedae being a part of his lands. It was raised to the statute of a Royal City by the marriage of Almaric, son of a Visigoth King with the Frank Princess Clothilde. With these honours Rhedae became famous for its court. This was during the time of the famous Troubadours.

In the 11th century the decline of Rhedae began. Ermengarde, the inheritor, daughter of a Count of Carcassonne and wife of a Vicomte of Beziers, suddenly sold all of Rhedezium to the house of Barcelona. Her descendants, the Trencavel family, later came to claim their rights of possession and once again tie themselves to the Count of Carcassonne. But in 1170, the King of Aragon, Alphonse II, claimed his rights as a pretender over Rhedezium, seized Rhedac which he destroyed, saving only the citadel "du haut" which stayed in the hands of the Trencavel family.

In 1209, under cover of fighting against the Cathar Heresy, the Rhazes was put to blood and flre by Simon de Montfort and his crusaders, who were sent by the King of France, Philippe Auguste, to subdue the powerful Languedoc and re-tie the lands to the French Crown. Dismantled and ruined it became a simple stranded small town, and it fell to Lieutenant Pierre de Voisins who became the founder of a new dynasty. Today many ossuaries hear witness to the bloody battles which took place in the area during all this period. Tracing the present access road in 1908, the workmen discovered an impressive ossuary (several hundred metres long), with skeletons laid and stacked up six to eight layers high oriented East/West. Another was discovered at the Pasdu-Loup near the fortress ramparts; and recently while digging then foundations for the water tower on the parking place, workmen discovered a natural rift full of skeletons thrown in haphazardly. The fault was immediately tilled in and the subfoundation of the water tower was displaced.

The grand-son of Pierre de Voisins partially restored Rhedae and built a church dedicated to his patron saint: The Church of Saint Peter, It was also Pierre de Voisins who began the construction of the present château The plateau became covered with houses and roads and once again Rhedac became the main town of a powerful castelIan

Alas! not for long. Suddenly "les routiers", an armed horde of "soldiers of fortune" pillaged and created terror wherever they passed, swooping, howling on the city, burning the houses, ruining the harvests and mercilessly slaughtering the inhabitants.

Soon afterwards the Count Henri de Trastamarre, a fearsome bandit, loomed up from Spain, destroying everything in his path and then he too besieged an already agonising Rhedac. It was disastrous.

In spite of the heroic resistance of the Voisins; the ferocious ruffians, specialised in atrocities, razed the fortifications, destroyed the church of Saint Peter, and crushed all that remained of the proud citadel.

As if such a dreadful slaughter was not enough, the plague then took its turn striking the small handful of those who had escaped.

Hence, the city of Rhedae dissapeared forever, whereas her twin, the city of Carcassonne is still intact to relate to us these 20 centuries of history. In a "eomte"' which became the Rhazés there is now only a small village : Rennes-le-Chateau, with houses tucked away around the château of the Voisins family and the church Of Saint Magdalen.

The name of the Voisins family was extinguished when their last daughter Jeanne married a Lord de Marquefave of Spanish origin. Blanche de Marquefave, born from this marriage, then married Pierre Raymond d'Hautpoul and as dowry gave him the barony of Rennes. Henri Baron d'Hautpoul immediately took the title of Seigneur de Blanchefort. The last Marquis de Blanchefort mated Marie de Negre Dables who was of a large family from the plateau de Sault in 1732. She was left a widow 30 years later with no male heir.

Marie de Negre Dables-Dame d'Hautpoul de Blanehefort died in the chateau of Rennes on the 17th January, 1781 at the age of 67.

But it is as if Rhedae never wished to die, and the date of this end became the beginning of an incredible story

THE ABBE ANTOINE BIGOU

In January 1781, the Lady d'Hautpoul de Blanchefort, trustee of a great secret which had been passed down in her family from generation to generation, felt that the moment had come to follow her husband into the family vault. Having no sons she decided to confide this secret, along with some documents of considerable importance, to her confessor the abbé Antoine Bigou, who had been the parish priest for 7 years in Rennesle-château.

The lady died peacefully on January 17th, 1781, asking the abbé in his turn to pass on the mysterioug secret to someone worthy of receiving it.

The abbé was tenrified by what he had learnt, even more so as France was in a commotion of political events which would lead to the revolution of 1789. After deep reflection on the matter, he hid the documents in the Visigoth pillar which held up the altar in the church of Saint Magdalen. During these troubled times, in fear of his life, he decided to entrust to the stone pillar all that was to be passed on to future generations.

Completing his ideas in 1791, he had a large gravestone placed and laid flat on the tomb of the Marquise, engraved with Latin inscriptions one of which "ET IN ARCADIA EGO" was in Greek lettering. He had this flagstone removed and transported from the "Tomb of ARQUES"(l) (a small funeral monument situated on the 0 meridian, between the villages of Peyrolles and Serres, at the hamlet of Pontils, on the road leading to the Col de Paradis on the way to Narbonne.).

At the head of this tombstone he had another stone erected which intentionally draws our attention to numerous irregularities inserted in the epitaph, a cryptogram whose correct interpretation he thought would lead to a secret place.(2)

Inside his church, at the time of the revolution, he considered it a good idea to turn face down an extremely old sculptured stone which showed a knight and a child on the same horse.

Very soon afterwards, in 1792, after having been declared a rebellious priest, it became necessary for him to flee to Sabadell in Spain where he died 18 months later. He had now given the "Great Secret" orally to the Abbé Cauneille, an exile like himself, who in turn passed it on to two other pilests.

-The Abbé Jean Vié, the parish priest of Rennes-les-Bains from 1840 to 1870.

-The Abbé Emile Francois Cayron, the parish priest of St Laurent de la Cabrerisse in the Aude, at the same period.

But what did they really know? That a colossal and priceless treasure lay buried somewhere in the Rhazés, around Rennes-le-Chateau and Rennes-les-Bains, in twelve hidden places which had been indicated to the abbé- Bigou by the Marquise de Blanchefort. The fonmer had left a coded message, of which he had inserted "a key" in the epitaph of the Marquise. They also knew of the existence of documents which had an extraordinanry historical importance. Two priests would later know how to take advantage of them:

- Abbé Bérenger Saunière, who was born in Montazels in the "Haute Vallée de l'Aude" and was made the parish priest of Rennes-le-Château June 1st 1885.

- Abé Henri Boudet who succeeded Jean Vié as the parish priest of Rennes-lesBains. From a poor family in Quillan, he was intentionally educated and formed by the Abbé Cayron.

The presbytery was uninhabitable, the church run-down. But the Abbé, a handsome man of 33, was full of energy. During the parliamentary elections of October 1885, from his rocky pulpit held up by an ancient pillar. he encouraged his parishionets to vote against the republicans, a party who were against the Catholic Church.But the republicans were victorious, the priest was exiled to the seminary in Narbonne and his income was stopped. At the request of his parishioners he was reinstated the following year, or perhaps it was thanks to the Abbé Boudet. He then began the most important restoration work using donations which were given by monarchist sympathisers; a noble lady gave a new altar; the local council voted a small loan.Then an emissary of the Comtesse de Chambord (originally a Habsbourg) arrived. She had been widowed two years previously, her husband had been a pretender to the Crown of France, and last descendant of the Bourbon family. Had he become King it would have been under the name of Henry V.This envoy, who called himself Monsieur Guillaume, and who later often returned to watch over the restoration work, gave the cur6 the fabulous sum of 3 000 francs, a fortune at the time,This was in return for looking for and finding any precious documents hidden in the church that he would then transmit to him, in particular those which the Abbé Bigou had considered explosive to Rennes-le-château. Rennes-le-Château was certainly not a place unknown to the countess, since a Seigneur de Hautpoul, tutor to her husband, had struggled to place him on the throne of France, in the pIace of Louis XVII, the legitimate son of the "Lys a la tête coupée" (Louis XVI), who allegedly escaped from the Temple. (3) A document proving the survival of Louis XVII hidden at Rennes-le-Château by this of the Hautpoul family would have explosive in many ways. All the more so because the Count de Chambord apparently confided in his wife that he himself believed in this survival.Monsieur Guillaume, in reality Johann of Habsbourg, Archduke of Austro-Hungaria nicknanied "L'Etranger".(the foreigner) by the village people), would later be a constant visitor to Bérenger Saunière at the villa Bethania.

L'ABBÉ BOUDET

Enigmatic taciturn, thin and sickly, but an indefatigable walker, the Abbé Boudet, then aged 50 was a highly cultured and erudite man , especially in the fields of archaeology md incient languages. Meanwhile, the abbé Saunière was busy turning over the old church tiom top to bottom. Henri Boudet published a strunge book entitled "La Vraie Langue Celtique et Le Cromleck de Rennes-les-Bains." (The True Celtic Language and the Stonc Circle of Rennes-les-Bains), criticised from the moment of its publication as a fantastical ind indescridable work". Only the Reverend Father Vannier was close to the truth when he wrote "The abbé Boudet is the keeper of a secret which could be the cause of major upheavals".ln fact this book, full of humour and patent absurdities, completely at odds with the personality of the author, conceals between its lines the mysterious secret of the Hautpoul de Blanchefon, and gives the exact location of 12 chests each of which can be opened with a special number.

The abbé Boudet himself reveals from the outset the object of the decoding - " to penetrate the secret of a local story, by the interpretation of a word composed in a foreign language". And in fact it is true that the contents of the book are ineonprehensible to anyone who is not in possession of the keys. To be exact, the author prides himself on page 26 on "speaking a certain jargon from the outside". And on page 11 there is an interesting passage which relates to the keys....

A strange book, and a strange priest, who, during his ministry at Rennes-les-Bains, took time to falsify grave stones in the cemetery and alter the surrounding area, changing the location of certain stone crosses and creating new ones.

Disappointed at the way his book was received, the abbé Boudet then devised a plan to immortalize the Hautpoul secret which he held, in the stones of the St Magdalen church, by decorating it in such a way that it would provide the perfect illustration of his book. He chose the new cure Bérenger Saunière, protégé of the Bishop Monseigneur Arsene Billard, to carry out this project.

MARIE DENARNAUD

"Dans toute affaire cherchez Ia femme", is a French saying. As concerns the "affaire" of Rennes we find a simple hatmaker of 20, Marie Denarnaud , who came into the service of the abbé Saunière at the same time as her family. As though by chance she became his confidante and his helpineet, to the extent that. later, all the donations intended for the Abbé Saunière would be personally addressed to her and in his will she was made sole heir of all he possessed.

Through her presence, her constant vigilance, her authority and feigned docility, she played a large pan in the strange activities of the Abbé Saunière. Faithful to her obligations she unceasingly pushed him into a predestined route, a route paved with gold from which they both henefitted to lead a lavish existence, all the while reJssigning a part of this wealth to the moving spirit for whom the abbe Boudet was certainly merely a front. (Did not Alfred Saunière, in a letter he wrote, ironise about the fact that he "was obeying orders"?).

Dressed in the latest Paris fashions, wearing strange antique jewelry about her neck, Marinette moved arrogantly among these villagers who nicknamed her "La Madone". Nonetheless, out of respect , when she became aged and wrinkled, the villagers would refer to her as "Mademoiselle Marie" when they spoke of her. Day and night she would faithfully visit the graveyard, on a sort of pilgrimage, unless she was having strange meetings with... spirits?

Very superstitious. and above all fearing the devil and his evil deeds, she never betrayed the secret, and died in 1953, aged 85, taking it with her to her grave.

THE EARLY RESTORATION WORK

Benefitting from the donations he had received, the abbé Saunière then began the restoration of the church. He started by removing the old altar, a simple rough piece of stone, cemented on one side into the wall on the right of the apse, and supported on the other by two old pillars, one of which had a "cross of silence" sculptured on it, a symbol frequently used by the Visigoths.

During the handling of this heavy piece, a flagstone was broken, revealing a hiding-place. In side, they found a container filled with pieces of gold, and a treasure, apparently that of the local nobles, entrusted to their cure Antoine Bigou, in order that it might be safely hidden in the church before they escaped abroad, driven by the execution of Louis XVI and me fall of the monarchy.

After this discovery, the work was postponed and tongues began to wag, especially when Elie Bot, Verdier and Rousset, who were helping with the restoration work, said they had seen the priest removing a wooden tube with wax seals on it from inside the "capsa" (the hiding-place intended to hold the relies of the saint venerated in the church). Later it was said that this tube contained two parchments and a manuscript.

The latter, decoded by the abbé Boudet, gave the perfect anagram of the epitaph of the marquise, as well as the following message:

(shepherdess no temptation that Poussin Teniers hold me key Pax 681 By the cross and this horse of God I dispatch this guardian demon at midday Blue apples).

This message refers to the church at St. Sulpice, an esoteric temple copied from the Temple of Solomon and finished at the time of the death of the marquise, on the territory of the abbéy of St. Germain des Pres, where the Merovingian kings were buried up until the construction of the basilica at St. Denis. It encourages the person who understands the message to remain silent, and not to do anything without receiving orders from his superiors, before the year 1891.

Why 1891? Because the epitaph of the marquise clearly indicates this date. Since her death occurred in 1781, the inscription should have read

XVII JANVIER MDCCLXXI =1781

but Antoine Bigou intentionally engraved XVII JANVIER MDCOLXXXI, replacing the second century with a 0, which does not exist in Roman numerals. Therefore we skip it te read MDCLXXXI :1681. If we use this 0, which reminds us of the zero meridian which passes through both St.Sulpice and Rennes-les-Bains, as épivot, to turn the date around, we get 1891 instead of 1681.

1891

In effect it was in this year that Bérenger Saunière made the famous discovery which he describes in the following manner in his journal (visible in the museum):"Letter from Cranes- DISCOVERY OF A TOMB - Rain." Let us examine the events surrounding this discovery.Everything was upside down in the church after the start of the restoration work, the discovery of the hiding-place with its treasure and the parehments. The workmen had been asked to leave for a break, so that the priest might have free reign to carry out his own researeh.But the elderly verger of the church (whose name was Antoine Captier, and whose grandson and namesake now runs the museum here) had to ring the angelus for the evening service as usual.On his way down from the belltower, he suddenly saw something shining in the top part of the old wooden baluster which had been thrownon its side during the restoration work. The piece of wood which enclosed the niche where there was wedged a phial containing a rolled-up parchment had dropped out when it fell.

What should he do with such a discovery except take it straight to the curé who not only knew how to read and write, but was also familiar with ancient alphabets? Undeniably, the discovery of the phial marked the beginning of the era of Saunie rés wealth. On the paper signed by Jean Bigou, uncle of Antoine Bigou, and his predecessor as priest of the parish, was written a clue which led to the site where the pillar had been, not far from where the worlernen had discovered the stone hastily turned face down by Antoine Bigou a hundred years previously. It was indeed the same stone as described in the paper. In the cache was a skull, pierced by a ritual incision, like those carried out on the dead in the Merovingian era so that their souls might escape heavenwards ... and the entrance to a vault which the abbé immediately cleared away using his tools. Then he discovered steps which led down beneath the church (4). The "Dalle des Chevaliers" was the point of access to the tomb, but it was arranged to look like a hiding-place. Furthermore, the old parish register, dated 1694 (which can be seen in the museum), mentions at this exact location, the presence of the tomb of the "seigneurs de Rennes".

From this day onward, Bérenger Saunière and Marie Denarnaud lived as though they had access to an inexhaustible fortune. It is possible that they discovered the crypt and pillaged the tombs. What magnificent discovery did they make which enabled them to lead such a grand lifestyle and to flout everyone including the abbé Boudet, the Bishop, and the Vatican?

AN INTERESTING GROTTO

Then a strange game began. On the pretext of building a grotto on the village square on which the abbé wanted to make a garden, Marie and the cure went out to collect decorative stones in the vallee of the Bals, south of the village where the 'ruisseau de Couleurs' flows and where grottoes and natural faults go back into the rock, forming galleries and chambers, one of which could well be the "fabulous room" (the abbé later bought a piece of land on this spot).

The Visigothic pillar of the old altar, reduced and shortened, was placed in the small garden against -the wall of the old stables. On June 21St, 1891, year of the recognition of the cult of St. Mary, Bérenger Saunière had a crude statue of the Virgin Mary placed on this base after a procession bearing the statue had wound its way through the village streets, and after he had engraved at the bottom "Mission 1891", aeq probable reminder of his own mission here. (5)

MR ERNEST CROS

This elderly engineer, graduate of the Ecole Polytechnique, and a retired railway employee. used to spend his holidays in Quillan, where his wife owned the baths at Ginoles, He is worthy of mention for the role he played in the Rennes affair.

A dedicated archaeologist, fascinated by ancient stones, he accused his friend BCrenger Saunière of treating these historical pieces with eontempt.to the point of placing the "Dalle des Chevaliers" on the floor as a step, exposed to the elements, in front of the hase of the statue of the Virgin Mary, and of erasing the inscriptions on the horizontal tombstone of the marquise of Blanehefort.

It is thanks to the writings of Mr. Cros that we know of the existence in the cemetery of the gaivestone known as "Et In Arcadia Ego", which the abbé erased and had transported to be placed on top of the ossuary.

It was also Mr Cros who discovered in the surrounding area the Templar stone of Coumesourde, which, to this day, remains an enigma as regards its presentation as much as its origin. (6)

THE TWO PARCHMENTS

The two parchments found in the sculptured Visigothie pillar of the altar could only be translated by a paleographer. Boudet suggested to the Abbé Saunière that he ask the Bishop of Careassonne, Monseigneur Felix Billard (well known for his taste for luxury), in short, eventual protector in financial affairs, who sent Saum'&e to Saint Sulpice to take orders from there, According to the book listing the celebration of masses, Saunière stayed in Paris for five days in March 1892. At Saint Sulpice, he was introduced to Emile Iloffet, famous occultist, author of many studies of freemasonry. He also met the singer Emma CalvC linked with Joseph Pdladan, who in 1891 founded the cabbalistic order of "la ROSE+CROIX DU TEMPLE FT DU GRAAL" (the Rose Cross of the Temple and the Grail) with the Count de Laroehefoucauld.

These people would léter often be his guests at Rennes-le-château.

The entire symbolism ot Saint Sulpice evokes the countryside around Rennes-lesRains 'md the secrets hidden there. B&renger Saunière brought back reproductions of three p tintings from Paris including

- Lé, Bergers d'Arcadie, by Nicolas Poussin, painted during the reign of Louis XIII, between l6é'9 and 1639. We can see the tomb of Arques with the countryside around Blancheton in the background, and the inscription "Ft In Arcadia Ego" on the tomb of the marquise

- Li Tentation de St.Antoine, by David Teniers the Younger, painted around the same time St Antoine is celebrated on January 17th, the date engraved on the tomb of the marquise

As soon as he returned from Paris, the abbé carefully covered over the cache beneath the "Dalle des Chevaliers". Then he and his servant began some very strange activities in the graveyard. Although a sepulchre ought to be considered saerQsanct, they displaced the horizontal tombstone of the dame d'Hautpoul and put it on the ossuary which they created. They also erased the inscriptions on the stone, and they continued their work in the daytime, without the slightest respect either for the dead or their descendants. When the local population reacted and questioned their activities they were told that the aim was to'make room' in the graveyard. Finally a complaint was lodged by the mayor at the local police station. Were the two of them simply pillaging the tombs, even going so far as to carefully sieve the earth in certain places, searching for jewels and precious stones?

THE MAJOR CONSTRUCTIONS

While Bérenger Sauniere was travelling in France and abroad, never for longer than a week, bringing back subsidies, money orders were arriving from all over Europe in the name of Marie Denarnaud, most frequently from religious communities which would later lead to the Abbé being accused of trafficking in masses.

The restoration of the church continued, and impressive amounts of money were spent on it. Decorator-artists were brought from Italy, and even though they were extremely pernickety in the quality of their work, Saunière was very demanding about the slightest detail, and frequently made them undo and redo parts of their work with which he was discontent. A secret room was constructed behind the sacristy, to which access was gained through the back of a row of cupboards.

To the great satisfaction of the two abbés the church was finally finished and inaugurated in 1897, According to letters owned by various individuals, the restoration work alone cost 350 million centimes.

After the inauguration of the church, work continued elsewhere in the village. Constructions werc erected on land bought at a high price in Marinettés name

- a neogothic tower christencd Magdala.

- an attractive house in the Renaissance style - the villa Bethania.

- a semi-circular gallery hugging the side of the clift with at the end of it , a second tower, crowned with a conservatory.

- an orangerie.

- a park with fountains and even a menagerie.

The visikirs were surprised and the church peoplc scandaliscd by such a display of wealth.

Immodest, like many "nouveaux riche", Bérenger Saunière led "the grand life", cheerfully throwing money out of the window, cntertaining famous personalities in a princely way, but also many other more questionable characters, to the great despair of the abbé Boudet who often made bitter comments.

Slowly, after 1903, things began to change. Monseigneur Billard had died the previous year. Then it was the turn of the Pope Léon X1II, a liberal-minded man and a protector of the Habsbourg family to leave this life. The lavish expenses incurred by the abbé Saunierés projects were so excessive that it became difficult for him to handle. He altered, and became a different man : cold, calculating and pretentious. With the new Pope Pius X and the new Bishop of Careassonne, Monseigneur de Beausdjour, he found two enemies eager to bring him down.

From 1909, after the splendour, came the dark period, that of interminable court cases and a lack of money. To subsist with the ever-faithful Marinette he was obliged to sell his expensive furniture, his silverware and his various collections. And to conclude thé situation the Vatican condemned him to a "suspens a divinis", which meant that he was deprived of his sacerdotal rights. The abbé Marty was nominated as the new priest at Rennes. (7)

The Bishop made it clear that he would wipe the board clean if the abbé would return everything that he had misappropriated. But it had all already been put in Mariés name... Overwhelmed by this condemnation, the abbe began to develop serious health problems.

And then, miraculously, everything was resolved when the abbé Boudet on his deathbed revealed the great secret of Rennes, and the location of one of the mysterious treasures, and when the new Pope Benoit XV, taking the same liberal views as Léon XIII, lifted all the sanctions which had been imposed by the previous Bishop.

After 30 years of troubles, Bérenger and Marie were at last the grand masters of Rennes. They would be united by an unfailing complicity until their deaths.

The abbé Saunière rediscovered his enthusiasm and vitality, and once again took the train from Couiza to an unknown destination, returning laden with gold.

He then continued to spend enormous sums, making more and more extravagant projects, also signing an estimate for work to be carried out by his building contractor Elie Bot, from Couiza, which totalled some eight thousand million centimes.

Until the day when Marinette discovered him prostrate in front of the Tour Magdala, on January 17th, 1917 - what a strange family coincidence!

After having passed on the secret to his friend the abbé Riviere of Esperaza the cure of Rennes-le-Château died on January 22nd 1917, And later, the abbé Riviere, as he had promised, transmitted "le Grand Secret" to another man of the cloth... might it not have been the abbé Mazières?

The story may have ended there, but we arc not yet finished After both Boudet and Saunière had passed away, Rennes-le-Chiteati once again became calm, and was able to shed its tears and pay hommage to those who gave their lives in the 14-18 war. The church tried to hush up the matter, putting pressure on Marie Denarnaud to sell the property. And memories faded with the passing of time...

When the faithful Marie burnt certain private papers which had once belonged to the Abbé Saunière in the garden, as he had asked her to do before his death, might she perhaps have kept some as he had requested, to hide them in a safe place?

Anything is possible. The Archduke Rudolph of Habsbourg, descendant of the last Austro-Hungarian Emperor came in person to Rennes in January 1975 after having spoke at length with the abbé Mazières who was in retirement at "Bethanie" in Carcassonne. Why?

On Janluary 21st, 1953, Marie Denarnaud passsed away, having left all she possessed to M, and Mrne. Noel Corbo

NOEL CORBU

It was pure chance which led Monsieur Corbu, an industrialist, to the plateau of Rennes, and a miracle which made Mademoiselle Marie consent to open her door to give him some water for the family picnic.

It is true that his education and culture distinguished him from the average sort of person who would usually knock at the elderly lady's door asking for information. Also his personality perhaps reminded her of those she had frequently met while the abbé was alive, in the now-distant past when she had shone in the skies of Rennes.

In fact, Noel Corbu was not just anybody. He was a doctor of sciences, and was related on his father's side to the Cartimpre family, on his mother's side to the WaldeckRousseau family and to the house of the Bourbons of Spain. Always courteous, little by little he won the confidence of Marie to the extent that she allowed him to move into the villa Bethania with his family.

In July 1946, Marie made N6el and Itenriette Corbu legitimate heirs to her estate. Then M. Corbu went on his own to Morocco to try to set up a sugar refinery. But his failure soon brought him back to Rennes, in 1950. To support his family he opened a hotelrestaurant "La Tour", counting on the incredible beauty of the landscape and the history of the treasure to attract clients. Hence, it was No"el Corbu who revealed the "Rennes affair" to a large international pubic, explaining it in his own way,

while desperately continuing to search everywhere for the famous treasure. And Marie would tease him, saying "Don't worry so much about it Nbel. One day I will tell you a secret which will make you a rich man... a very rich man...!" (8)

However! Very recently a person fascinated by the history of Rennes had an article published in the press saying that "after inheriting in 1920, some books which once belonged to the abbé Boudet, he bad found amongst the pages of "Mai son Pittoresque" (by the same author as 'La Vraie Langue Celtiqué), a fragment of an act dated 4th March 1747, which mentioned that under the altar of a certain church on the site there was a crypt containing four tombs and two chests which held various documents and old books... "and a request that the existence of the crypt should remain secret ... the owner of the first half of the left mysterious parchment sent out a request to whoever might be in possession of the other half...". (Magazine Mysteria, April 1990).

In 1960, the Corbu family sold the domain to a man from Lyon, M. Henri Buthion, who is still the owner today.

THE TREASURES ACCORDING TO LOCAL TRADITION

410 - Visigothic gold, with a large part of the treasure of Solomon, including the solid gold seven-branched candlestick belonging to the Jews, of which all trace was lost after Its arrival in Carcassonne. Carcassonne had become a frontier town when the Franks had advanced. It is not entirely unfeasible to suppose that their loot was transported in haste to Rhedae, which was powerfully protected.

The use of aerial photography would today reveal the presence of a gigantic montiment, which according to all probability was nothing other than the pantheon of the Visigothic monarchs. And if we remember that the Kings were buried with their greatest riches... (9)

650 - Dagobert's treasure from the wars.

1240 - Blanche de Castillés treasure, representing the ransom money for her son St.Louis, emprisoned by the Infidels. She hid this treasure in the Rhazes when she learned of the death of her son at the hands of his captors.

1244 - The Cathar treasure, which disappeared from Monts6gur when the Cathars surrendered to the troops of Simon de Montfon. In 1950 a mysterious individual, claiming to be a descendant of one of the heretics responsible for smuggling the treasure out of the besieged citadel said he caine to Rennes-le-Chateati on a pilgrimage to the site where his ancestor had hidden the Cathar treasure. (see l'H6ritage de l'Abbé Saunière) The Treasure of the kingdom of Majorca - according to the abbé Mazieres.

The Results of Pillaging - There arc local tales of a Lord of Rennes who attacked the convoys of money which crossed the Spanish border in both directions.

Other Rumours - for example it may be an object of power which renders he who p05sesses it invincible:

- The Holy Grail, the Menornih, the Ark of the Covenant, the sword of Charles Martel, the talisman of Hitler...

OR EIASE A VERY IMPORTANT DOCUMENT such as the marriage certificate of Jesus and Mary Magdalen, suggesting that their descendants may still be alive today. Therefore the mystery of Rennes-lechâteau is in reality an attempt to set out the idea of the re-establishment of the Merovingian monarchy on the throne of France, and perhaps of Europe.

History proves the existence of gold-mines at the Roc-Negre and at Auriac, and of a mint during Charlemagnés reign. Also counterfeit coins were produced at Bezu by the Seigneur of Rennes' own son-in-law and by the ncphew of the Pope at the time.

RECENT DISCOVERIES - 20 kg of gold in a wood, 50 kg of gold in a field, a result of imperfect melting-down of Arabian coins. Many private individuals possess liturgical objects, as well as extremely old and rare jewels which were given to them by the abbé Saunière or Marie Denarnaud. Other items include pure gold Visigothic and Roman coins.

THE BÉRENGER SAUNIÈRE MUSEUM

Since 1989 the association "Terre de Rhedae" (of which anyone can become a member for a sniall contribution), has worked for the development and protection of the communal inheritance, and organizes the reception of visitors to the site. The association has opened a small museum in the old presbytery next to the church. Above the entrance there is an inscription "The Pastor's house is the house of all".

The museum contains a large collection of documents and personal possessions which once belonged to the abbé Saunière and Marie Denarnaud, and clearly depicts their lifestyle at the turn of the century.

Those responsible for the creation of the museum. descendants of the villagers who were contemporaries of the abbé, present a contradictory version of the history of Rennes. Theirs is the local version, in an attempt to reinstate the oral tradition which relates the events as remembered by their parents and grandparents. They refute the discovery of the parchments in the Visigothic pillar, and instead place ifin the tomb of the local "scigneurs" which was discovered in the church by the abbé Saunière. However, the museum also presents something of the ancient history of Rennes - many paleontological and neolithic items make up the exhibition, along with coins from the early years of our era, and dinosaur eggs discovered on a nearby site. Only the future will reveal whether or not there exists a crypt to be explored, as is frequently the case in Ritman churches and chapels.

VISITS - every day between 10-12 and 2-6. There is a small charge for admission -group reductions and student tickets available.Parking - postcards - books - engravings.

THE ABBIE SAUNIERéS DOMAIN. For a guided visit to what was the abbé Sauni&rc's domain - Villa Bethania - Tower Magdala - See p.40. Tel 0468 74 3116.

THE GARDEN OF CALVARY

The abbé created the garden on the village square. In the centre, in a circle, he erected a calvary, with a large orb at the top of the cross, from which shot out golden rays (long since disappeared). It was here that he should have inscribed "Mission 1891", and not on the Visigothic pillar. The translation of the Latin phrase on the base reads "May Christ protect his people from all harm". In the corner of the garden which forms the top of a triangle he set up a strange grotto using the decorative stones he collected in the valley of the Bals and brought back in a hod which he wore on his back. He placed a statue of Mary Magdalen within the grotto, but this has been stolen.

Note - It is interesting to note that he also built his office up against the wall of the graveyard, above a reservoir, in which he is said to have hidden the results of his various excavations in bags hung from beneath the floorboards.The abbé Saunière, enthralled by the crowds of pilgrims at Lourdes since 1858, apparently developed the grandiose idea of making Rennes-le-Cha'teau a centre of pilgrimage and spiritual discovery.

THE VISIGOTHIC PILLAR

Placed upside down in the little garden to the left of the church it suggests that the decoding of the enigma hidden within the church should also be worked out upside down, Note - "Mission 1891", when read upside down becomes 1681, thedate inscribed on the tomb of the marquise de Blanchefort.

THE CHURCH OF ST. MAGDALEN

The entire secret of the abbé Saunière is within these walls. The decoration of the church, including the porch, perfectly illustrates Boudet's famous book. The restoration work took nine yeans, from 1887-1896.

THE TYMPANUM OF THE CHURCH

The equilateral triangle, the roses and the cross in the centre arc symbols whose meaning is all too elcar.

Bottom left - the arms of Monseigneur Felix Billard, Bishop of Carcassonne, who defended the abbé Saunière, no doubt for reasons of self-interest.

Bottom right - the coat of arms of the reigning pope, LCon XII, liberal and monarchiSt.

Below - "This place is terrible!", and on the arch of the porch, "It is the house of God and the Gate of Heaven".

On the gargoyle in the left corner -

the date 1891, when the abbé discovered the "tombeau des seigneurs".

This romanesquc church, built in the 8th and 9th centuries, was the old chapel which belonged to the château. The parishioners had their own church, of St. Pierre at the top of the village. Once he had explored and overturned the church, from top to bottom, BCrenger Sauniti L consti octal an intcrior double-partition wall to strengthen it" as he said. On the bclltowei the date 1740.

Note - In 1958 Mr Cholet a civil engineer from Paris, carried out research based on clues found in somc old books discovered at Monfort-Lamaury, fief of Simon de Niontfoit which g ivc é det ulcd description of the church at Rennes. His research uncovered scvci él hiding places all of them empty! Mr. Cholet left in haste for Paris after a near miss when a beam placed with intent above the church door fell and nearly killed him. (12)

THE DEVIL AND THE HOLY WATER STOUP

As we enter the church we are greeted by a hideous devil, grimacing under the weight of the -. water stoop qod the fourangels which surmount it:

On the base, two basilisks frame a red inset which contains the letters B.S.

B.S. - the initials of Bérenger Saunière.

B.S. - Boudet and Saunit-re (the names of the two priests connected with this affair).

B.S. - Blanque and Sals, the two nearby rivers which converge at a spot known as "le benitier" (the holy water stoup).

B.S. - basilisk and salamander, for the alchemists.

Note- in 1928 a small statue of solid gold, half melted-down was found in the river Blanque.

There are several sites around Rennes where the word "devil" is present, e.g. -

- 'la main du diablé (the devil's hand), imprinted on a natural stone known as the 'pierre du pain' (the bread stone).

- 'le sein du diablé (the devil's breast), where there was once a signalling tower on the site of the nipple.

- 'le fauteil du diablé (the devil's armchair), near the source du Cerele at Rennes-lesBains.

- legend recounts that the devil himself placed the 'roulers', (the rollers) upright large rocking stones at the Pla de la Coste.

- The abbé Saunière apparently persuaded Marie Denarnaud to keep silent about the strange secret they shared by threatening her with the fires of hell. She was extremely superstitious, and would hang sprigs of broom from the window to ward off bad luck.

The republicans!". thundered Bérenger Sauniiere from his pulpit during the general elections of October 1885, "this is the devil to be vanquished. This is who should kneel beneath the weight of religion and its baptised adherents. The sign of the cross is victorious and is on our side (implying the side of the monarchists) (13) But does this really explain the position of the devil in the church?

THE FOUR ANGELS OF THE WATER STOUP

Looking in four different directions, these four angels each enact a part of the Catholic sign of the genuflection. The kneeling angel points with her index finger to the inscription "By this sign ye shall conquer him" (Par ce signe to le vaincras). The word "him" (le), apparently added to the age-old phrase to obtain a sentence which contains 22 lettens.

- 22 is the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet, language of the Cabbala.

- 22 is the number of the final Major Arcana in the Egyptian tarot.

- 22 is the number of steps leading up to the terrace on top of the Tour Magdala.

- 22 is also the number of erenellations on the Tour Magdala.

- 22 is the number of teeth in the skull which grimaces above the entrance to the graveyard.

Note - Also, the two letters, "1" and "e" occupy the 13th and é4th positions in the phrase, suggesting the date 1314, when Jacques de Molay, Grand Master of the Order of the Temple was burnt at the stake. Does someone want to draw our attention to the Templar château at B6zu, and therefore to the Templar treasure, yet another booty which has been lost for centuries?

For the esotericists, the four angels may be seen as representations of the four zealous brothers (freres zelés) of the Rose+Cross, or the winged brothers (ftc res ailés). See "Rennes-le-château", by Gerard de Se de.

Also, in 1986, Alain Féral (then at the bookshop in Rennes-le-château), made a curious discovery (amongst many others) The hollow head of the angel on the right was stuffed with cuttings from German newspapers dating from 1898, the era when the abbé Saunière carried out the restoration of the church. (14)

THE FLOOTILING IN THE CHURCH

The enraged and threatening devil is staring at the black and white paving on the floor of the church. At the time of Boudet and Saunière there existed just 64 of these squares, laid out like a chess-board and orientated on the four points of the compass.

Using TWO chess-boards similar to this one, the abbé Boudet arranged the 128 letters of the abbé Bigou's manuscript.

With tbe Knight's move he reconstituted the text of the message which was signed 'Pommes bleucs" (blue apples), itself a perfect anagram of the epitaph found on the grave of the marquise.

THE CONFESSIONAL

Made of solid oak, does it represent the legend of the shepherd Paris, who in 1645 is said to have discovered a large pile of gold at the bottom of a ravine where one of his sheep had fallen?

lléNétie the pistor walking bent over in a gallery, his head surrounded by a saint's halo.

- thé shcép with a devil's head. Might it he said to show the head of Asmodeus, legendary guardi Iii of r treasure?

- the crosé at the top stands out against the large wall fresco. adjacent to the part which

shows a hag with a hole in it.

- thé sign of the Rose+Cross at the centre of the 'fleur de lys' on either side of the

confessionnal

- thé circle of the cross.

THE LARGE WALL FRESCO

Painted with hollows, protrusions and rounded bumps, this painting shows the Mount of Beatitude, fiom where Christ gave his. sermon on the eight spiritual blessings.

Note - the roses strewn over the hillside.

the penitence bag which has a hole in it.

- in the scenery on the left blooms a flower known as "Seeau de Solomon", (Solomon's seal), a pink lily-like blossom.

- in the scenery on the right, in the foreground, we can observe the top pan of the wooden pillar in which the bellringer discovered the phial whose contents enabled the abbé to uncover the tomb in the church. Renaissance in style, with sculptured pomegranate leaves, it oddly produces a living

branch which pierces the wooden pillar.

JESUS BAPTISED BY JOHN THE BAPTIST

Note - Jesus crouches in the same position as the devil in the church entrance, but inverted, and the clothes he wears are of a similar colour, only they too arc inverted. He too stares at the syrsibolic paving, drawing our attention to the need for a second chess-board which most be used back to front in order to solve the riddle,

- the shape of the shell held by John the Baptist which is intended to release a flow of three trickles of water, symbolizing the Holy Trinity.

ST. GERMAINE DE PIBRAC

She is holding a corner of her apron, fille(l with red roses. The story of this saint appears to have been copied from that of St.Roselyne, who is celebrated on January 17th.

ST. ANTOINE ERMITE<

The presence in the church ot this saint, who led an exemplary life may he intcnded to suggest a nearby location - "Ia grottc de I ertylite" (the hermit's grotto). It is not simply chancc which makes a ray of sunlight pass through the stained gla%% window opposite and illuminate the statue on precisely January 17th, the date on which he is celebrated, and on which he died at the age of a hundred and five. Note - On the bas-relief of the altar, Marie Magdalen is in a grotto, through the entrance of which we can observe scenery strangely like that in a painting by David Tdniers, a contemporary of Nicolas Poussin "The Temptations of Saint Antony the Hermit". We should remember that the abbé Saunière brought back this painting as well as "The Shepherds of Arcadia" by Nicolas Poussin, from a trip he made to Paris.

THE PULPIT

At the time of the Abbé it is said that the antique wooden pillar supported the pulpit. This is, however, totally unproven. The four evangelists are depicted on the pulpit we see today. According to the parish register of 1694, it was close to the wooden pillar that the "tombeau des seigneurs" was situated. When the abbé discovered this tomb he began feverishly to overturn the entire floor of his church. Opposite the pulpit was the romanesque attar removed by the abbé, one side of which was set into the wall, the other resting on two pillars, one of which was sculptured Note -The Templar cross and the Sacred Heart which form part of the mural decoration.

JOSEPH ON THE LEFT OF THE ALTAR

THE VIRGIN MOTHER ON THE RIGHT OF THE ALTAR

Each of these renowned individuals holds a child in their arms. Legend has it that Jesus had a twin brother who was married to Mary Magdalen, and that their lineage is not extinct. even todayé In niet, it is more likely that they represent a sign of the zodiac, Gemini

THE ALTAR

The abbé Saunière intentionally reproduced the elements of the seal of Blanche de Castille; a castle with three towers (the middle one of which is noticeably taller than the other two). and the 'fleur de lys'.

THE BAS-RELIEF BENEATH THE ALTAR

It is extremely significant. Mary Magdalcn in tears is kneeling in a grotto, in front of a cross formed of two branches (Mary and Joseph's twins?), of which one is alive,

Note: - The curious way in which Marv Magdalen crosses her' The exact replica of this painting can he seen on a stained-glass window at Puicheric, a villagc in the Aude, between Carcassonne and Narbonne, If the excavations that have been contemplated uncovered a crypt such as those which exist under most types of romanesque churches, it is possible that we would find the Holy relics of Mary Magdalen.

Note - Not long ago there was an inscription under the bas-relief, but it has recently disappeared in an act of sabotage.

THE STAINED-GLASS WINDOW ABOVE THE ALTAR

Mary Magdalen is anointing Jesus' feet with spikenard ointment. She appears to be coming out from under the table.According to some researchers the seal of Blanche de Castille can be superimposed on the Biblical image.

ST. ANTOINE DE PADOUE

It is not Mary Magdalen, patron saint of the church who is held up by the four angels, as we might have expected, but instead the patron saint invoked by the faithful for his help in recovering lost objects. Monseigneur Bil lard, on the day of the inauguration of the church made the following rather curious observatron to Saunière - "I appreciate, Monsieur l'abbé, your sense of gratitude!".

Note:- This statue was apparently placed in front of the mural tomb of the last Merovrngian king, Sigebert IV (son of Dagohert II) who died in Rhedac in 750. It is bclreved th it whcn Célemagne acccded to the throne ro 771 thc {r indsons of Sigebert IV hid the church built is I sepulchre to their granclt ithcr on the site of i pig in temple. In dIed in incient érchment cliscoveied in a JéusaIem Bible reported that in the reign of Nein there was crected in a place called Rhedac a temple dedicated to Isis, which took, in the ieign of Titus in the year 70 A.D., the name Magdala".

THE SECRET ROOM

The secret room is installed behind the sacristy. Access is through a row of cupboards with a t rIse back The abbé Saunière would lock himself away here when he returned from his long treks across the hrlls bearing a hod upon his back. What did he hide under the decorative stones he hi ought back from these walks?

Note: - The saeristy contains a splendid stained-glass window visible from the garden (neither the sacristy nor the secret room are open to the public)

SAINT MARY MAGDALEN

She is the patron saint of the church. The gospels rcfer to three individuals whose given name is Mary' - Mary the Sinner, Mary of Bethany, and Mary Magdalen. In fact, they can be considered as one and the same person - she was converted by Jesus, and

then lived in Bethany.

But in the mysterious affair of Rennes-lechâteau has it not elsewhere been revealed that Mary Magdalen was none other than the wife of Jesus? that she came to the Rhazes, where she left descendants? Could Ithedac be the second Jerusalem announced by Jesus?

Note - On the bas-relie{ the tree trunk held by the saint as a cross. At her feet, the skull on an open hook (as on the altar painting). Also, the 'fleur de lys', on the stained-glass window behind her.

SAINT ROCHE

This saint was born with a red cross on his éheét Legend relates that the Merovingians fivoured the colour red, arid that their leaders were born  with a sort of stigmata in the form of a cross on their chest. After surviving a terrible plague epidemic, St Roch suffered from incurable oozing wound on his thigh.

Note- The spherical stone the (log bears in his mouth. Tire researcher has to find a ROCK marked by the abbé Boudet with a RED CROSS on the ZERO MERIDIAN, close to a SPRING.

THE BLUE STAINED-GLASS WINDOWS AT THE SOUTH END

These surprising windows have a distinctive characteristic which can be observed and photographed on a fine winter's day. The sun's rays, low on the horizon, pass through the patterns of the stained-glass windows at precisely midday by the sun, and project onto the opposite wall a tree covered with round fruit resembling apples. While the image, initially blurred, becomes more focussed, while moving from left to right, the fruits ripen as one watches, arid become red, except for three of them, which remain blue.

In a very short time the image becomes Nurred once again, then disappears completely towards the right. An identical phenomena used to occur at the church of St. Sulpice in Paris, from where it disappeared in 1891 to appear in Rennes-le-château.

Note- The message left by the abbé Antoine Bigon, decoded by the abbé Boudet (see p.12), ended with the words "pommes bleues".

THE PLAY OF LIGHTS FROM THlE STAINED-GLASS WINDOWS

Apart from the "blue apples", other phenomena may be observed, created by the skilful hands of the glass craftsmen specially chosen for their talents by the abbé Saunière.

- On the 13th of January, day of the celebration of Christ's baptism, a single ray of sunlight enters the church, and strikes the baptismal fonts, then slowly rises during the ensuing hour intil it envelopes the whole of Jesus and John the Baptist in an aura of light.

- Around the 3rd or 4th of April, the sun passing through the window showing Christ resuscitating Lazarus (in the chancel to the right of the altar). projects Christ in a very specific position onto the bottom of the opposite wall, raises him from the ground, and makes him rise along the wall until he appears before Mary Magdalen exactly as in the gospels, raises him a little more towards the top of the wall, and then he disappears. This phenomenon is visible for about a week.

- The third phenomenon can be observed at the end of March. On the stained-glass window which shows Christ teaching the apostles "I am the Light of the world" (behind the statue of St. Aéntoine de Padouc), and four or five days before the second phenomenen mentioned above, a perfect equilateral triangle takes shape, the top of which is Christ, the base being formed by St.Peter and John the Baptist. By an amazing series of reflections this triangle achieves a luminosity of extraordinary intensity, which is repeated and amplified to such an extent that the whole interior of the church is transfigured by the light. (18)

Note - The openings for the positioning of the stained-glassleft windows were carried out according to the Boudet-Saunière plan.

THE STATIONS OF THE CROSS

When carefully examined, it is clear that these stations of the cross have little in common with the Passion as recited in the gospels. According to the principles of the phonetic riddles, of which the Freemasons are so fond, the abbé Boudet had anomalies added to each of the stations of the cross, which were originally a standard version, bought from a dealer in church decorations. Each of these anomalies describes a precise location to be ft)und in the stone circle around Rennes-les-Bains. In one of them a head fits badly onto the neck, in another we can see the edge of a cape which once belonged to a figure which has been replaced by another personnage. Elsewhere we find the edge of a hand...

The decoration of the church is a perfect illustration of Boudet's book "La Vraie Langue Celtique et Ic Cromleck de Rennes-les-Bains" and allows us with a set-square and a pair of compasses to draw out, inside the church, the same zodiacéas he traced out in the surrounding countryside, but the wrong way round, in accordance with the precise indications given by the last marquise de a Blanchefon and reinserted in her epitaph by the Bigou. Hence, the line of CAPRICORN or the 17TH OF JANUARY, goes from the léAuTEulL DU DIABLE (the devil's armchair), near Rennes-les-Bains, to the TOUR MACDALA at Rennes-le-Chtcteau outside in the countryside, and from the DEVIL to the altar in',ide the church. Not forgetting the presence of the statues, whose positions are indi',pcné ible to the reconstitution of the puzzle, one can find the exact whereabouts of the twclvc ca',kets each of which can be opened with a special number, based on the twelve éigné of the zodiac, numbers given in Boudet's book.

Note - The Rose+Cross insignia which is sculptured in the fame of each of the stations of the cross.

STATION I.

Jesus Before Pontius Pitate.

Why is the procurator decked out in a long veil which reaches down to the small of his back? Why is there a golden griffin, legendary animal with a lion's head and an eaglés wings? And what is the reason for the other veil which covers the steps of the pedestal?

Note- Pontius Pilate is here shown as a red-head.

STATION VIII.

Jesus Meeting The Daughters Of Jerusalem.

A woman with a black veil holds a child dressed in tartan by the hand.

Note - The Freemasons refer to themselves as "Children of the Widow".

STATION IX.

Jesus Falls For The First Time.

The soldier with a naked chest (a Frank warrior, not a Roman one) triumphantly grasps the red cape, emblem of the House of Austria.

STATION XIII AND STATION XIV.

The visitor will understand that this guide cannot pretend to offer a detailed description of each of the stations of the cross.

Station XIII (the descent from the cross) and Station XIV (entry into the tomb), are particularly interesting because of the alterations which have been made to them.

THE MOST INFORMATIVE, HOWEVER, IS STATION X.

Jesus Is Divested Of His Clothes.

Anomaly - a soldier gambling with dice for Jesus' tunic hass thrown two dice, the one on the left shows a 3 and a 4 (which is impossible), and the one on the right a 5.

Here is the interpretation of this as given by a specialist of the "Rennes affaire" Mr Roger Boonaert:

"This anomaly allows us to understand the importance of the numerical key used to decode the mysterious cryptogramme

We simply need to add up the following points - 10 (the number of the station) and 7 (total of the 3 and 4 on the peculiar die), makes 17 in total. Then we move the text forward 17 squares starting from the word "CURE" (bottom right, where the last letter is an "H" in order to attract our attention to it). Then we go forward counting 5 (the number on the second die), then 14 (the number of stations).

This will give the following message to the seeker : TRESOR ENFOUI AU LAGASTOUS AVEN 1785 (King's treasure buried at Lagastous. Aven 1785)".

He skilfully continues the decoding , giving precise details of his method in his article, and arrives at a message which contains 128 letters, (exactly the same number as on the gravestone of the dame d'Hautpoul, which the abbé Antoine Bigou engraved in 1781), which reads -

OR NATIF ROMAIN - HAUTPOUL - DEPOTS: WISiGOTHIQUE, ALARIC, ROYAL, TEMPLIERS BEZU, ACCES KARST SUD AVEN RAYONS.LLLLLLXV. M POINTS AVEN, P.CARLA-ROI MORT - MMLLLLXLV.M

(Native roman gold - Hautpoul -deposits -Visigothic, Alaric, royla, Templars Bezu, access karst south aven rays. LLLLLLXV.M Points aven, P.Carla -dead king - MMLLLLXLV.M)

THE GRAVEYARD

Here you can see the ossuary, in an alcove, with a rounded roof, opposite the entrance. The horizontal stone of the Blanchefort tomb whose inscription was erased by Bérenger Saunière lies on top of it.

The abbé Saunierés tomb is to be found at the far end of the graveyard in the right hand part of the large tomb he had built. Marie Denarnaud is buried to the left of him.

Note - Above the entrance gates of the graveyard, a skull and crossbones laughs with its 22 teeth.

THE "DALLE DES CHEVALIERS"

'The "Knights' stone" dates from the VIlIth century. This Carolingian tombstone can be seen in the annex of the museum, on the left as you enter the presbytery courtyard

For some people, these two riders on the same horse are the origin of the templar emblem. For others they represent the escape of the knight called "Merovee Levi", taking with him Dagobert's son, to the Countess of Rhazes, his mother.

Note - According to Mr. Henri Buthion this stone sealed the mural sepulchre of Sigebert IV in the church. It was apparently in this tomb that the abbé Saunière discovered gold crowns which he gave to his friends and relations, who have continued to keep them in their families.

Note- On the floor, a deep gallery which disappears under the earth, witness to the excavations carried out in the times when they were still permitted.

THE "VILLA BETHANIA"

Renaissance in style, this opulent-looking house whose name evokes Judea, is on the right when walking from the church up towards the "Tour Magdala". At the time of its construction (1901-5), the whole of Catholic France was dedicated to the "Sacre Coeur" (Sacred Heart). The founders of this movement of religious fervour were one family, a family from Rennes, thc Fleury family.

Note- The statue of the Sacre Coeur beneath the ornamental front and the Sacr6 Coeur on the two stained-glass windows of the front door. (The half-sister of Marie Denarnaud maintained that she had seen gold ingots laid out on a shelf in the cellar of the villa). Opposite the entrance door, behind a tall iron gate used to be the abbés vegetable garden, with a circular fountain in the middle, from which came a single high jet of water.

Note - Bethania was the name of Lazarus' house, and he was Mary Magdalen's brother. In front of the main door, workmen who were digging a trench for the installation of running-water, uncovered a skeleton which experts dated as being from the VilIth or IXth century.

The paths in the garden all converge on a central circular area where a tree was planted. There were peacocks, and exotic fish swam in the ornamental lake, which was framed by two flights of stairs leading to the rampart-walk.

Bérenger and Marie entertained in luxury here - influential people, statesmen, churchmen, hermetists, artists etc. If it had not been for the legal proceedings started by the Bishop, after the election of the new Pope, this residence the would today have been a retirement home for the local priests, as the abbé had intended. (In Carcassonne there is a retirement home for priests called "Bethania").

THE "TOUR MAGDALA"

A neogothic tower on two levels, it stands at the end of the semi-circular belvedere erected by the abbé Saunière on the edge of thc plateau, bugging the cliff and the remains of the ramparts of the ancient citadel.

Square, crenellated, surmounted by a watchtower which has 12 crenels (just as there are 12 signs of the zodiac), and oriented like a sundial, it was originally christened "Tour de l'Horloge", (the Clocktower).

It is said that there is an underground passage which runs along a natural rift in the rock, leading from the tower to the castle at Coustaussa (on the road to Narbonne), running via the château de Blanchefort, which stood guard over the valley of Rennes-les-Bains until it was destroyed by Simon de Montfort.

Not far from this tower, between the fallen rocks and the cliff, diggers discovered a nrehistoric shelter under the rocks, filled with the bones of women and children.

The "Tour Magdala" was a well-stocked and richly furnished library installed by the abbé Saunière.

Note- The foundation stone was laid on the celebration-day of St. Antoine de Padoue.

THE "château DES SEIGNEURS DE RENNES" (XVI CENTURY)

· This is the castle which gave the village of Rennes-le-Château its name.

· Originally a Visigothic fortress, there still exists a vast, remarkably well-preserved room in the north of the castle,and which dates from this era.

· It was destroyed in 1210 by Simon de Montfort at the time of the crusades against the Cathars.

· It was rebuilt around 1250 by Pierre de Voisins, a northern baron to whom it fell, and  who left descendants in the Rhazes.

· It was destroyed by the Catalan "Routiers" in 1362.

· Once again it was rebuilt by the llautpoul family in the XVIth century (an ancient family who were guardians of "a very great secret" passed down from one generation to the next).

The last lady of the château was Marie de Negre Dables Dame d'Hautpoul de Blanchefort, who died on January 17th 1781. Her bed, with her coat of arms emblazoned on it, still exists in one of the rooms in the château (not open to the public).

The castle we see today consists of four main buildings on a central courtyard, and four corner-towers. a circular one 17m high, and three square ones. The twelve stones over the threshold show the twelve aposties. It contains secret dungeons and blocked-up underground passages which once led off in several directions to join natural rifts in the rock. It was sold by auction by Elisabeth de Rennes, daughter of the last marquise, and purchased in 1816 by Julie Avignon, daughter of Elisabeth's farmer who later sold it to the Dalbies brothers.

Around 1946, it was bought by Mr. Marius Fatin, honorary commissaire in the merchant navy, who moved in with his wife, their two daughters, and their son Henri, who currently resides there, and who is a fine sculptor of wood.

A legend relates that in the caves which are linked to the château de Rennes, via underground passages, lives a race of troglodytes, unware of the passing of time and the light of day.

© copyright 2002 La Maison Du Chapelier, Andrew Richardson. All rights reserved.