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FRANCE 2012
DAY 3, WEDNESDAY, SEPT.5
We overslept this morning. It was 9:00 before we got up. We went
downstairs for breakfast – 10 minutes before they stopped serving. All
they had left was cereal, yogurts, 2 pieces of ham and a variety of
breads and a few cheeses.
We wanted to see the Treasury in the Cathedral yesterday but it was
closed on Tuesday so we walked the two blocks to the cathedral and went
into the treasury which had lots of gold and silver vessels and the
vestments of Thomas Becket.
We checked out of our Sens hotel and got our car from the attached
garage. We found that we could not get both suitcases in the hatchback
trunk, so we had to put one in the back seat which doesn’t provide much
security when we stop.
Our GPS got us on all of right roads. It was about 80 miles to
Vezelay. Most of it was on major tolls roads. When we got off the toll
road, we came to the toll gate which was unmanned. We stuck our ticket
in the slot and then a credit card in another slot…it would not take our
card, and then I dropped it on the road. I had to pull over while my
wife got out of car to get the card and try again. In the mean time
traffic was backing up behind us. Some voice was telling us what to do,
so we decided to try cash---it finally worked and the gate opened and
everyone behind us was very happy…so were we. We have decided that our
American credit cards won’t work in certain places because most
European credit cards have chips in them.
We drove on little local roads for about 20 miles. They were almost
deserted and rather narrow. It was amazing to see Vezelay and the
church sitting high on a hill as we drove along.
We finally got to
Vezelay and found our hotel-hotel Le Compostelle. It is
quaint little
hotel with only 18 rooms. Our room is rather small with a loft with
rather steep steps. We never used the loft. There is only one other
hotel in this little town. There are only a couple of streets -one is
the main street that goes up to the Abby church or as it is now called a Basilica
(1920)…..it is very steep and quite a distance.
We started walking up to the chu
rch and found a little shop where we
bought quiches for lunch. We were told that we could drive up and park,
so we went back and took the car. It was some distance and quite steep.
Vezelay's got its name from a certain Vercellus, a landed
proprietor who lived there in the 4th or 5th century. In 860 Benedictine
monks settled at Vezelay on top of the hill. When the Saracens invaded
Provence, some history and legends report that a monk called Badillon
was sent to St. Maximin to bring back the relics of Mary Magdalene which
were venerated there.
In 878 Pope John VIII dedicated the first church of the monastery, which
was later burned down by the Normans at the beginning of the 10th
century. The Abby was having a hard time existing when in 1037 Abbott
Geoffroy, on the festival day, displayed the relics of Mary Magdalene.
Miracles took place, news spread quickly, and pilgrims came in droves.
The fame of Vezelay, one of the four French roads that lead to Santiago de
Compostela, became equal to that of Rome and Jerusalem. The visitors
were so numerous that it became necessary to consider the construction
of a large church capable of giving them shelter.
Abbott
Artaud undertook the building of the Abby in 1096 and the dedication
took placein 1104. It is reported that because the residents
were so heavily taxed that they revolted and killed the Abbott. In 1120,
his successor reconstructed the nave which had been
destroyed by fire, in which 1200 persons were burned alive. The narthex
or porchwas built to lodge the pilgrims. At this time the population numbered
about 6000 inhabitants of whom 800 were monks.
On Easter Sunday, March 31, 1146, St. Bernard, Abbott of Clairvaux
preached the second crusade on the north slope of the hill, where
100,000 warriors and peasants were assembled.
In 1166, Thomas Becket, Archbishop of Canterbury pronounced the
excommunication of King Henry II of England. Becket had spent 6 years
in nearby Sens Cathedral (see yesterday's comments ). In 1190 the French
and English armies of Philip–Augustus and Richard the Lionhearted
started on the third Crusade.
In 1267 the entire body of Mary Magdalen was discovered at St.
Maximum where Abbott Geoffroy had found the original relics. Pilgrims
were now bypassing Vezelay and the Abbey fell on hard times The Abby was secularized in 1537 and in the
monks replaced by a College of Canons. The town having become a
Protestant ( Huguenot) fortress was not spared by the religious wars. It
also had to stand the siege of Catholic armies. The Huguenots destroyed the
front left tower of the Basilica. The apse was used as a riding school.
The statues on the outside were mutilated as well as the interior portal
and the furniture was sold at auction
The ruined and abandoned Basilica Was ready was ready to collapse in the
middle of the 19th century. With the threat of being torn down,
restoration began in 1840 was finished in 1861 by architect
Viollet–le–Duc.
The Vezelay Basilica certainly has had an interesting history.
Several years ago I took an art course at the Smithsonian Resident
Associate Program in Washington DC, entitled: "The Age of Faith: Art in the Middle Ages
"
taught by Judy Scott Feldman. Dr. Feldman had lived in Vezelay while
working on her dissertation. She brought her experiences and descriptions to
our class. I never thought of that I would be actually visiting Vezelay in
person one day. I am indebted to her enthusiasm about this wonderful
church and community.
After driving up the steep hill, we found a parking place right in
front of the Abby church. The first thing that one notices is that there
is only a right side tower. We were immediately drawn to the exterior
tympanum of Viollet-le-Duc which depicts the Last Judgment. In the
center is Christ in Glory seated upon the throne with his arms extended.
Around him are the four symbols of the Evangelists. To the left of
Christ the souls of the dead are being weighed in the presence of Satan
who adds his weight against them, while the demons lead the condemned
souls to Hell. At the right of Christ, the souls of the righteous are
welcomed by the Virgin Mary and are directed by angels towards St.
Peter who opens the gates of Paradise. Several scenes from the life of
Mary Magdalene are represented on the lintel.
Between the two towers and
above the central portal there is a
pediment dating from the 13th
century which contains statues of St. John, St. Andrew, St. John the
Baptist, St. Peter, St. Paul, and St. Benedict. At the very top Christ
is enthroned and surrounded by angels with the Virgin Mary and St. Mary
Magdalene.
The center portal was closed so we had to enter by the north
portal (left side). Immediately inside is a very large narthex. In most
churches a narthex is like a covered porch before entering the nave. In
Vezelay, the narthex is larger than some churches that we have visited.
It was built this large to accommodate the large crowds that gathered
during the time of the pilgrimages to Santiago de Compostela. In the
narthex there are a number of columns with interesting capitals.
The center portal leading to the nave also has a wonderful
tympanum
sculpture which dates from 1125 – 1130. The theme is Pentecost. The
rays, which an enormous Christ sends out from his hands, opened in
benediction and welcome, touch the heads of the apostles, conferring the
spirit. There are seven compartments surrounding the center with
representatives of various peoples. Above that are the signs of the
zodiac. We could've spent all day admiring these unique sculptures.
Next
we enter the nave which is quite large – 200 feet long and 60 feet high.
There are 10 groin vaults separated by heavy semicircular ribs of
alternating white and colored stone.
The
pillars which separate the central and side aisles have capitals which
tell wonderful Biblical stories. This photo shows Moses at the grinding
mill
The choir,to
tally different from the nave
, was built at the
end of the 12th century. Here the Gothic style can be seen with its
pointed arches, and 20 windows and vaulting ribs.
Around the walls are 15
wooden crosses. The story of the
crosses is a touching one. In 1946, at the end of the Second World War,
many European Christians made a pilgrimage on foot to Vézelay in a
spirit of peace and forgiveness. The pilgrims from many countries
carried wooden crosses, fourteen in all. On their arrival at Vezelay,
German prisoners of war, being held in a camp nearby, asked to join the
procession. They were allowed to do so, and a fifteenth cross was
hastily made, and they joined the 30,0
00 people assembled here praying
for reconciliation and a peaceful Europe. This photo is of the 15th
cross along with a photo of the sign explaining its significance.
We walked around the outside. The cathedral overlooks a huge valley
below. We stopped in the gift shop where we bought a book.
We had dinner reservations at a nice restaurant, about a block
away from our hotel –
A La Fortune Du Pot. We had foie gras and a delicious egg appetizer
then I had Beef Burgundy and my wife had lamb plus apple tart for
dessert.
We came back to the hotel and had to enter a code in the box by the
front door to get in. The streets were deserted.
