A Rennes-le-Chateau research website by Ben Hammott investigating Sauniere's Altar Pillar.
The original Mary Magdalene altar support pillar seems to be, if the story is true, where everything began to change for Berenger Sauniere. Supposedly he discovered a small parchment or parchments, while carrying out repairs to the ancient altar.
July 27 - 1887. Sauniere employed some local workers to remove the stone altar so he could install a new one to fit in with the look he wanted to achieve in the church. It is not clear what happened next as the facts are as elusive as the fabled Holy Grail. It is said that in one of these pillars were found tubes of wood sealed with wax. The workers handed these tubes to the priest Sauniere and inside he found some parchments.
Another hypothesis is that while the church renovations were being carried out a glass vial was found by Antoine Captier the bell ringer. It had fallen out of a secret compartment in the wooden baluster, part of the pulpit that had been removed. The vial was handed to Sauniere who found it contained some parchments. Baluster Research HERE and Glass Vial Discovery HERE
If you look at the images of the pillar on this page you will see that there appears to be no possible hiding place for the 2 or 5 parchments, reports vary on the number discovered, or any wooden tubes. The square shaped recess seen in the top, was once thought to have been the hiding place. This hole though is a recess for the stone lug that would have protruded from the underside of the altar top, or for the cement to hold the top securely in place. With the altar top now missing we have no way of knowing if the lug would have left any room for hiding anything. I am not convinced that this square hole ever concealed anything of importance to the mystery. The Altar top, which seems to have been a substantial piece of stone or marble, and thus quite heavy, must have been almost impossible for Bigou to have raised up on his own, and then place something underneath. Of course he may have had help from a fellow priest or one or more of his parishioners. Also it is believed that the design of the altar consisted of one side of the top cemented into the wall, the rest of its weight supported by two stone pillars. One of which still remains today. The where about's of the other is unknown.
Views showing the similarity of the two top holes in the Rennes-les-Bains pillar, left, and the Rennes-le-Chateau pillar, right.
Even though the angles are different there is a similarity between these two Pillars.
The complete monument.
To learn about another possible hiding place for the parchments Sauniere allegedly found click HERE
For more information on the Altar Pillar click HERE to visit the Société Perillos website and view their article posted 2nd February 2007
TOP RESEARCH MENU
Rennes-le-Chateau - Famous for the mysterious antics of its former priest Berenger Sauniere. Sauniere redecorated his church embedding clues to the secret he discovered during the renovations of the Rennes-le-Chateau church dedicated to Mary Magdalene.
The original Altar pillar is now on display in the Saunière Museum at Rennes-le-Chateau.
So if no parchment was ever discovered in the altar why does this rumour persist? The pillar appears to date from Visigothic times by the carvings that cover all of its four sides. Sauniere, for reasons only known to him, had some of the details removed, smoothing the stone to add some inscriptions of his own. PENITENCE! PENITENCE! was carved on the top edge and 'MISSION 1891' along the bottom.
PENITENCE! PENITENCE! seems to commemorate the 8th apparition of the Virgin Mary by Bernadette, at nearby Lourdes, but this is spelt different, also there are three: PENANCE! PENANCE! PENANCE! This believes me to think that maybe Sauniere's inscription has another meaning.
The date '1891' is also significant in this mystery. It on this date Sauniere wrote in his diary, 'FOUND A TOMB'. It was also the year his relationship with his housekeeper Marie Dénarnaud began. They are rumoured to have become lovers in the following years. Marie would remain faithful to Sauniere her entire life, never seeming to reveal any of the secrets he confided in her.
If the pillar is turned the right way up, the date now reads '1681'.
Sauniere most have known the historic importance of this carved stone, yet he still defaces part of it. He then places it upside down in the Mary Magdalene church garden to suffer at the mercy of the wind and rain. He also placed a statue of the Virgin Mary on top. Did the carvings, he had removed, contain information that started the priest on his mysterious road to riches? Though it would be a few years before his spending spree begins, it all leads back to this specific moment. Maybe the carving/s he may have had removed were not originally part of the Visigothic design but added at a later date by a previous priest of the village. Bigou perhaps? This would have been easier to carry out by himself than to try and lift up the top. The carvings could have been on the side facing the wall and so away from prying eyes. if this is so then this information could then have led Sauniere to lift the large flagstone in front of the altar revealing the carved stone we know today as 'THE KNIGHTS STONE' or maybe to something else. This would explain the persisting story and importance of Sauniere finding something hidden in or on this altar.
The Knight's Stone found by Sauniere face down in his church. Now on display in the Sauniere museum
Saunière's Mary Magdalene Church at Rennes-le-Chateau. View shows position of the Altar pillar in the church garden.
Sauniere standing next to the Altar Pillar he had placed upside down in the church garden. A statue of 'our lady of lourdes' stands on top.This is how it looked during Sauniere's era.
THE RENNES-LE-CHATEAU
MARY MAGDALENE CHURCH ALTAR PILLAR
Sauniere's Missing Altar Pillar.
As mentioned above, the altar in Sauniere's church was originally supported by two stone pillars, but now only one remains. The second pillar has disappeared, but I think I may have found it. While visiting Boudet's old church in Rennes-le-Bains, I took a stroll around the graveyard to look at the old tomb stones. As I left the graveyard I happened to glance to my right and glimpsed something in the shadows of a large bush. Pulling back the branches I discovered an old stone pillar. On closer examination, matching in size and shape, it looked very similar to the one from Sauniere's church. But if so what is it doing here in Rennes-les-Bains by Boudet's church. We know he had an interest in stones and objects from around the area, he even hacked off a head from a stone in the hills and placed it in the presbytery wall, now missing. Perhaps he showed interest in this stone and Sauniere gave it to him.
Two views of the the Stone Pillar I found outside the Rennes-les-Bains Graveyard.
The pillar has suffered badly from being exposed to the elements over the years. No discernable carving remains. Maybe this pillar, unlike Sauniere's pillar, if it was ever in his church, had already suffered badly from the rain and weather entering through one of the supposedly many holes in the roof, before Sauniere ever arrived in the village. This may explain one of the reasons Saunière was so keen to carry out repairs or renew the altar. Perhaps when he first took possession of it some details of the carved decoration still remained. Later he might have defaced the information to keep it secret for some reason. Of course this is all speculation on my part It has been reported that only one of the pillars were decorated, the other was unadorned, this gives further credence to the Rennes-les-Bains pillar once having been in Sauniere's Mary Magdalene church. I will track down the report and post it here.
