Vézelay

The first thing we encountered at Vezelay was the long queue at parking meter, foreigners seemed to have problem with it and locals seemed to be happy with the situation. I turned out to be a hero who successfully got the parking receipt and had to demonstrate the whole process for everyone to follow! Then we walked into the old town of Vezelay, the town, to be honest, nothing special, just a row of restaurants and souvenir shops, except that along the way I noticed metal shells attached on the street, the symbol of Route of Santiago de Compostela signified that the main road of Vezelay is part of the pilgrimage route and a World Heritage Site. The main road leads us to the sole highlight of Vezelay, the Basilica Sainte Marie Madeleine de Vezelay.

The recent restoration really made this ancient building looks amazingly clean and new, hard to believe its old age. I had no idea what Burgundian Romanesque style is but one thing for sure, this basilica is really special piece of art especially from all those statues and motif that adorned inside. The most stunning object probably the statues and details that adorned the main interior gate. I heard some American tourists mentioned that they came here because of Dan Brown’s Davinci Code, I don’t think there is a mention of Vezelay on such novel or film, but probably the story of Saint Mary Magdalene intrigues them enough to visit this place. While I …

Vézelay, Church and Hill was the last destination of my short trip to the Champagne and Burgundy regions of France. Vézelay lies about an hour and ten minutes drive west from the Cistercian Abbey of Fontenay; both WHS can easily be combined into one day trip from Dijon or even Reims. The hill with the church on top is a landmark visible from afar.

The site has been an important place of pilgrimage since relics of St. Mary Magdalene were brought here in the 10th century. So it comes as no surprise that the same location is also part of the French Route to Santiago de Compostela WHS. It is actually the starting point of one of the four main pilgrimage routes to Santiago. The steady flow of pilgrims brought considerable wealth to the town in the Middle Ages. On my drive up there I saw a couple of long distance hikers too (the pilgrims of the modern age).

The Abbaye Sainte-Marie-Madeleine de Vézelay is the main feature of this WHS. The Abbey church is undergoing major restorations at the moment, especially near the choir which is closed to visitors. Probably the most interesting part is the variety of sculpted capitals on top of the columns in the interior. The decoration scheme with the polychrome ribs and these capitals is an architecture buff's dream: "it gives a delicacy and refinement to the interior"1. I guess this is also why Vézelay Church is considered "one of the outstanding masterpieces …

I visited this WHS in July 2013. Vézelay is a very small town in Burgundy and it also forms part of the Route of Santiago de Compostela with many pilgrims visiting the Church. Like John Booth, I particularly liked the collection of wooden crosses in the Church. The façade is unique but it needs to be taken care of as soon as possible since the elements are getting the upper hand.

This site definitely does match the criteria for a WHS. Should anyone not just read its history, but also compare its architecture and decoration to contemporary churches, you will find its importance as an architectural work of art from the middle ages. Especially the tympanum in the narthex (entry hall) of the church is important to the history of medieval sculpture and can be found in almost any book on art or architecture dealing with this period.

Furthermore, the 19th century restoration/reconstruction by Viollet-le-Duc is almost as much worth calling a heritage 'site' on its own. It reflects the thoughts and views on restoration in France's very first years as a country aware of its valuable historic heritage. Untill the 19th century, all evidence of France's history as a kingdom was considered to be worthless; from about 1800 on, it slowly started to go the other way around. The building up of a new Franch nation after the Revolution was to be nurtured by these reflections on the past, showing France's former excellence in building, craftmanship etc.

The most interesting aspect of the church of St Mary Magdalen was the collection of wooden crosses brought here in 1946 from all over Europe during a march for peace. One cross came from a group of POWs from Germany who had been held near here.

The village of Vezelay held a few other gems; the views over the villages of Asquins and St Pere-sous-Vezelay from the ramparts and the gateways of Barle and St Croix.

But best of all were the picturesque villages and the town of Avallon passed on the bus journey to Vezelay from Montbard station.

My wife and I last visited Vezelay Abbey over thirty years ago, and I found it one of the most exciting and enduring experiences of my life. I am nearly 88 years old and that glorious place is still a shining memory' It's whole ambience and history is incredible. It is one of a number of religious houses that we visited, but Vezelay sitting on top of that hill, is the most outstanding.

I am doing a blog on religious houses in France on my website and hope to include Vezelay, if I can obtain some pictures that do it justice.

In our trip to France we have been to the beautiful village of Vézelay , famous from the 11th century because of the belief that the Benedictine abbey on the top of the hill held the relics of Mary Magdalene, that became the object of one of the greatest Christian pilgrimage and also the point of departure of one of the pilgrimage routes leading to Santiago de Compostela, that profited to the town: it counted in the 12th century 8000 to 10000 inhabitants, many for the period. On the Easter day of the year 1146 was held on the hill the assembly that convoked the departure of the Second Crusade: St. Bernard preached in the presence of the king Louis VII, the queen Eleanor, many lords, prelates and people from all walks of life. In 1190 Philip August and Richard the Lion-Hearted reunited here their armies and departed to the Third Crusade. The king St. Louis, very devoted to the Madeleine, visited Vézelay four times and in 1217 St. Francis of Assisi founded on the hill the first Franciscan convent in France (La Cordelle), that now contains of the original building only the chapel. The beautiful abbey church, founded in the 9th century was rebuilt after a fire from 1120 in the Burgundian Romanesque style and finished with the Romanesque and Gothic choir. The church, that was in bad conditions after the French revolution, was restored from 1840 to 1859 by Viollet-le-Duc, that entirely modified the façade and the portals, …

Now anyone doing a relaxing touring holiday in Burgundy would give Vezelay a few hours. Michelin gives it 2*. The walk up to the abbey and ramparts through the main street of old houses is very pleasant. No doubt also someone with religious convictions could find the religious significance of the place moving. But a WHS?? I think not.

This hill town in Burgundy contains the 12th century Benedictine abbey church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine which some consider “one of the most important surviving monuments of architecture and sculpture of the Romanesque period”. By the 16th century it was already on ruins and was partially razed during the French Revolution. The building you see is that which was reconstructed in the mid 19th century though much of the decoration appears to be considered original.

France has 28 WHS sites and 8 of these are entirely or mainly of religious buildings (including 4 cathedrals) There are a further 3 cities (Strasburg, Ile de France, and Lyons) which include yet more cathedrals. And there are another 4 religious buildings including 3 more cathedrals within its 38 entries on the Tentative list! France also has a site called “Routes of Santiago de Compostela” – all 3 of whose starting points (Bourges, Mont St Michel and Vézelay) are also WHS in their own rights and Vezelay has 2 buildings, including its Abbey, inscribed on the list of buildings for this site too (I might add that UK is not immune from this compulsion to nominate Religious …