During the 9th century, monks from St. Martin-des-Tours, fleeing the Norman invaders, brought their relics of St. Martin to Chablis, and they were eventually placed in the Eglise Saint Martin, which was then was reconstructed beginning in the 13th century. Above the door on the south side, you can see a cross decorated with fleur-de-lis and animals, and the door itself is covered with horseshoes and strap hinges from the 13th century. These were brought by pilgrims as offerings to St. Martin, at that time the patron saint of horsemen.
Our next stop was the gorgeous hilltop town of Vézelay. In the 12th century, it was a very important religious and commercial hub, as the starting point for one of the pilgrimage routes from France to Santiago de Compostela, in Spain. From the abbey at Vézelay, St Bernard preached the call for the Crusade, with King Louis VII among the parishioners. Later, King Philippe-Auguste and Richard the Lionhearted met here before going on the Third Crusade. So, it's very apparent that the town was a major religious center, and therefore fitting that the basilica at the summit was enormous and richly decorated. Of course, the Huguenots and the Revolution disposed of a lot of the beautiful carvings and sculptures, but what remained was carefully restored in the 19th century, especially the architecture and the interior doorways and pillars.
In fact, when I entered the basilica, I was reminded a little of the feeling I had when going into the St. Peters in Vatican City, especially when I saw the huge doors from the narthex to the nave:
The tympanum of this doorway is really stunning, picturing Christ enthroned, with his apostles around him, and people of every sort being called, below Jesus and to the upper left and right, the overall message of the work being that the word of God is intended for the whole world.
The crypt houses a piece of a relic from Mary-Magdalene, although our guide emphasized to us that relics are more of a matter of faith than of the physical world.
That didn't stop someone from stealing another of the church's relics of Mary Magdalene, just three years ago. I guess that means the worshippers will have that much more faith.
I had a delicious and very reasonably priced (entree, plat, dessert; 13,5 € ) lunch at a restaurant in Vézelay called Les Glycines, which means The Wisterias. The terrace is indeed covered in wisterias, but they bloom in the spring, so it was just greenery for us. The portions were hearty, and the piece of local Charolais beef that I had was very flavorful and juicy, crowned with a rich, buttery 'Morvan-style' sauce. No one in my group had space in their stomach for the dessert of tarte aux pommes , so we took it to go. When we finally got around to eating it, we found unexpected delight in a creamy almond paste layer hiding under the apples. Yum! Yay for French food outside of Paris!
In fact, when I entered the basilica, I was reminded a little of the feeling I had when going into the St. Peters in Vatican City, especially when I saw the huge doors from the narthex to the nave:
The tympanum of this doorway is really stunning, picturing Christ enthroned, with his apostles around him, and people of every sort being called, below Jesus and to the upper left and right, the overall message of the work being that the word of God is intended for the whole world.
The crypt houses a piece of a relic from Mary-Magdalene, although our guide emphasized to us that relics are more of a matter of faith than of the physical world.
That didn't stop someone from stealing another of the church's relics of Mary Magdalene, just three years ago. I guess that means the worshippers will have that much more faith.
I had a delicious and very reasonably priced (entree, plat, dessert; 13,5 € ) lunch at a restaurant in Vézelay called Les Glycines, which means The Wisterias. The terrace is indeed covered in wisterias, but they bloom in the spring, so it was just greenery for us. The portions were hearty, and the piece of local Charolais beef that I had was very flavorful and juicy, crowned with a rich, buttery 'Morvan-style' sauce. No one in my group had space in their stomach for the dessert of tarte aux pommes , so we took it to go. When we finally got around to eating it, we found unexpected delight in a creamy almond paste layer hiding under the apples. Yum! Yay for French food outside of Paris!
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