Basilica of Saint Mary Magdalene, Vézelay

La basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine couronne la colline de Vézelay, dans l’Yonne, en Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Cette ancienne abbatiale bâtie au XII^e siècle est l’un des grands exemples de l’art roman bourguignon, et une étape importante sur le chemin de Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle. Avec la colline, elle figure depuis 1979 au patrimoine mondial de l’UNESCO.

From Saint-Père to the hill

It all began around 858-859, when Count Girart de Roussillon and his wife Berthe founded a monastery on the site of today's Saint-Père. Ravaged by the Normans in 873, it was rebuilt on the summit of the hill. In the 11^th century, Abbot Geoffroy displayed relics attributed to Mary Magdalene; pilgrims flocked in and the abbey came under the saint's patronage around 1050.

Vézelay then entered great history. Bernard of Clairvaux is said to have preached the Second Crusade there on Easter Day 1146, before a crowd gathered on the northern slope. In 1190, Richard the Lionheart and Philip Augustus set out from there for the Third. Decline followed when it was claimed that the saint's body lay at Saint-Maximin, in Provence. Sold at the Revolution, the abbey served as a quarry; the church, badly damaged, was saved thanks to Prosper Mérimée, who found it in ruins in 1834, and restored by Viollet-le-Duc from 1840.

From shadow to light

The visit follows a route intended by the builders. You enter through the narthex, a large and rather dark outer nave, where the central tympanum shows Christ in glory sending the Spirit to the apostles at Pentecost. Next comes the Romanesque nave, raised after the fire of 1120, with its carved capitals. At the far end, the Gothic choir of the late 12^th century, very austere, is bathed in abundant light.

In 1976, the Franciscan friar Hugues Delautre noticed that at noon on the summer solstice, light through the south windows casts a line of bright patches exactly down the middle of the nave. In his view, the building's orientation takes the path of the sun into account.

A sanctuary still inhabited

Since 1993, the Fraternities of Jerusalem have celebrated the liturgy there three times a day and welcomed guests. The site attracts many people: nearly 830 000 visitors in 2013, making it the most visited monument in Burgundy.

Vézelay, an energy site

For anyone mapping energy sites in Burgundy, the hill of Vézelay quickly stands out. The climb up the hill, the move from shadow into light and the prayer of the monks no doubt all contribute. Did you make the climb? Your impression has a place in the comments.