Mystery
From Rags to Richess At the end of the 19th century, Bérenger Saunière, the poor parish priest of Rennes-le-Château, all of a sudden started spending a lot more money then he could ever have earned performing his normal duties....
Explore
[caption id="attachment_2283" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Abbey of Orval, Belgium"][/caption] The Abbey of Orval, in Belgium's Ardennes Forest, is truly a place of mystery. The name "Orval" means "Valley of Gold". Nostradamus was said...
Domain
In 1967, for the first and last time since Saunière's days, research was done under the floor of the church. Jacques Cholet, a railway engineer from Paris got approval from the Rennes-le-Château Municipal Council on May 31, 1959 for "...
Explore
In July 2011, a group of longtime French researchers fell out with eachother and in the slipstream published their research from recent years including what they thought was the location of the treasure of the Visigoths and the source of Saunière...
Art
Jean Pierre Jacques Auguste de Labouïsse-Rochefort was born in Saverdun (Ariège) on 4th July 1778 and died in Castelnaudery (Aude) on 22nd February 1852. He was a French historian. In 1832 he published a book entitled 'Voyage à Rennes-les-Bai...
Mystery
In 1972, British script writer Henry Lincoln introduced the Mystery of Rennes-le-Château to the English speaking world through his documentary The Lost Treasure of Jerusalem. It immediately created a storm of publicity and eventually led to the p...
Domain
The first thing you notice on entering the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Rennes-le-Château is the crouching devil just round the corner. For over a century now, the demon has been scaring the hell out of kids visiting the church with their pare...
Man
A Man's Best Friend In the mystery of Rennes-le-Château, an enormous amount of attention is reserved for a very small group of people. At the top of the list of course is the man who embodies the mystery like no-one else: Bérenger Saunière. Whe...
Explore
Many of current lines of Rennes-le-Château research end in or at least touch upon the Sanctuary of Notre-Dame de Marceille in Limoux. A look into its history at least confirms that clergy and laymen fought over its control through the ages. In 19...
Explore
In 1978, Henri Boudet's enigmatic (some say non-sensical) book The True Celtic Language and the Cromleck of Rennes-les-Bains was re-issued, including a preface by Pierre Plantard. Today Plantard's role in the Mystery of Rennes-le-Château is contr...
Mystery
[caption id="attachment_4661" align="alignleft" width="238"] Pope Innocent III who proclaimed the Albigensean Crusade in 1208[/caption] Wars between nations or faiths are commonplace. Sometimes, nations turn against a minority resident within thei...
Explore
On Ascension day 1243 a French army led by Hugh of Arcis started the siege of the Montségur Castle an inpenetrable fortress, perched on a 1,100 meters high rock. It was the apotheosis of what is today know as the Albigensean Crusade. At the botto...
Man
Nicolas Pavillon (1597-1677) It was during the reign of Pavillon as bishop of Alet-les-Bains that allegedly the Shepherd Paris fell into a hole while chasing a sheep and found gold. It is in this story that the mystery of Rennes-le-Château finds ...
Man
Noel Corbu (1912-1968) Entrepeneur, Noel Corbu bought Saunière's property, from Marie Dénarnaud in 1945 after which she lived with the Corbu's for until her death in 1953. When Noel failed to find even a trace of treasure he transformed Villa ...
Mystery
On 17th January 1967, a document was submitted to the French National Library called Le Serpent Rouge (The Red Serpent) as part of Les Dossier Secrets. Notably, it appeared there three weeks before the release of Gérard de Sède's book The Accurs...
Explore
In the 10th century, the Visigoths were the first to build a fortication on the white rock opposite Mount Cardou. In 1125, the castle was signed over to the bishopric of Alet(-les-Bains) by its owner Bertrand de Blancafort (Blanchefort) who swore ...
Domain
Vertical Tombstone of Marie de Nègre d'Ables, Dame d'Hautpoul, Marquise de Blanchefort +17/01/1781. the vertical headstone of Marie de Nègre d'Ables as recorded by M. Elie Tisseyre in 1905 (left) a reproduction from the Museum in Rennes-le-Chât...
Domain
According to Gérard de Sède in his book the Accursed Treasure of Rennes-le-Château, Saunière defaced the tombstones of the Marchioness de Blanchefort's grave after he had decoded them to erase any evidence of a treasure. What great fortune the...
Art
Jules Verne (1828-1905) In his books, the world famous writer of 20.000 leagues under the sea, appears to make references to Rennes-le-Château, it's mystery and the general area around the village, specifcally Mount Bugarach. Clovis Dardentor for...
Explore
A surgeon ventured along the river Aude at the beginning of the 20th century, in order to make careful observations. Professor Philippe-Henri Lonet arrived from the Bordeaux region. He came because he devoted his leisure time to the photography of...