Touring Sainte-Madeleine
Basilica in Vézalay: Visiting Burgundy’s
Church Celebrating Foreign-Language Study with Savvy Mom Ruth Paget
On
a cool spring day, my husband Laurent and I went on a weekend road trip to Burgundy
to visit the Sainte Madeleine Basilica in Vézalay.
When
we arrived, we parked at the bottom of the hill leading up to the Basilica and
began our climb. The street leading up
to the Basilica was lined with souvenir shops, art galleries, and wine cellars
selling Vézalay wine.
I
bought a French-language book on heraldry, family crests that were used on
armor. Obviously, French heraldry
differs from English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and German heraldry,
because their armies faced each other on battlefields.
The
Michelin green touring guide for Burgundy explained the significance of the
Basilica Sainte Madeleine. A church and
abbey have always stood on the Basilica’s site since the 9th century
when it was founded by Girart de Rousillón.
The
Basilica is famous for several reasons:
-Saint
Bernard called for the Second Crusade from the Basilica’s pulpit on March 31,
1146
-The
relics of Mary Magdalen were housed in the Basilica, which made it a pilgrimage
site. However, other relics of Mary
Magdalen were found at Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume in southeastern France
close to Aix-en-Provence.
-Vézalay
is also the starting point for one of France’s four pilgrimage routes that lead
to Saint Jean Pied-de-Port in the Pyrénées and eventually Saint Jacques de
Compostela.
-Finally,
during the Third Crusade, Richard the Lionheart, and Philip Augustus met at Vézalay
on their way to the Holy Land.
The
Basilica at Vézalay still attracts hordes of visitors thanks to its restoration
by Viollet-le-Duc, who also restored Nôtre Dame in Paris. The Basilica was fully restored in 1859.
Visitors
have always come to the Basilica at Vézalay to admire its tympanum, the
half-circle arch over the main church entranceway, which portrays Christ giving
his apostles the Gift of Tongues to speak foreign languages.
The
Gift of Tongues is celebrated during the Catholic Feast of Pentecost. Ridged rays shoot out from Christ’s hands to
show him giving his apostles the Gift of Speech, or ability to speak foreign
languages, to spread his gospel.
The
tops of the columns inside the Basilica all had elaborate foliage and fantastic
beasts on them. The lateral aisles
around the main pews perfectly show that the Basilica was built to accommodate circulating
crowds of pilgrims.
After
visiting Vézalay, we went to Dijon and walked around town for an hour. I just wanted to look at the rooftops with
their diamond-shaped rooftops.
We
did not have rooftops like that in Paris.
The diversity of just architectural styles in France never ceased to
amaze me. This diversity revealed
different climactic patterns, building materials, and different cultural living
patterns. I still love driving around
the French countryside for this reason.
By
Ruth Paget, author of Eating Soup with Chopsticks and Marrying France
