The presbytery of Rennes-le-Château Part 3: Opening the kingdom of the dead

 

 

In our quest to penetrate into the cisterns of Rennes-le-Château, we noted that underneath the village runs a natural fault line. This line, through which a man can pass, is present under the church and runs on towards the end of Saunière’s domain.
These native faults were refitted and used at various times, most often by the lords of the village, who used it for their own requirements. But it is equally clear that this site was also known to the local priests, as well as Saunière, who went to great lengths to remain in control of this underground network.

A small cavity without continuation?

As we now know that there is an opening under the plate of the chimney in the kitchen of the presbytery, the next question should be whether this small cavity is a dead end, or whether it leads somewhere. And if the latter, where to?
The possibility that this is a small hiding place is theoretically possible, but unlikely. We know this as we have proof that there is a tunnel, which leads under the church. We have photographic evidence that this is the case, as we entered the tunnel some years ago.
As a consequence, we can also confirm that Saunière must indeed have been afraid that the tiles in that section of the church would have sounded hollow, which is the reason why he placed the confessional where it stands today. The fact that the confessional stands on top of the cavity is further proof that Saunière knew of the underground passage.

This is not the only underground part of the church. There is irrefutable and documented evidence that there is a vault. An old parochial register, covering the years 1694 to 1726, states as much.
The document mentions the burial of one person, a lord, whose tomb was near the baluster. In 1705, one Anne Delsol is buried there also. In 1724, the noble lord Henry de Vernet is equally consigned to eternal rest inside this vault. The document also makes it clear that the vault is reached from inside the building (i.e. the church) itself.
Claire Corbu and Antoine Captier underline this fact: “one can thus deduce that this tomb (of the lords of Rennes) gave access to a vast crypt that could receive several burials.” To this, we should add that in the early 18th century, the priests or the villagers of Rennes-le-Château are not at all mysterious or secretive about the existence of this underground construction.

The old register remained in the files of the church of Rennes-le-Château. At the end of the 18th century, priest Antoine Bigou must have read it, even though it seems he did not use it for any burial. He buried Marie de Nègre Dables in the cemetery, not in the underground vault. Some have speculated that the vault was only reserved for men, but this argument is contradicted when we note that at least one woman, Anne Delsol, was buried inside the vault.
To this, we need to note that it is the tomb of this woman – Marie de Nègre Dables – that many have seen as the key that put Saunière on his trail… If her body had been preserved in the vault, this would surely not have happened. WE, along with so many others, can thus only wonder whether or not Bigou was indeed hinting at something by burying her inside the cemetery.

Underground elements

The church does has an underground network. But what about the presbytery? We know of underground tunnel underneath the chimney, but even though several plans exist of the presbytery (out of the four that are known, not two are alike!), never does there seem to be an interest in whether or not there is a basement or anything of the sort.
We also highlight once again that the presbytery sits in the continuation of the church and are, structurally, interwoven. If the underground network of the presbytery connected with the cavities underneath the church – and perhaps even the cisterns ? – then we need to ask whether someone at some point saw Saunière enter his presbytery, only to see him leave from the church – or vice versa. There is a persistent rumour amongst several people that this is exactly what they saw…

Proof

The existence of the underground tunnel underneath the presbytery can today not be verified. But when the museum was under construction, this was possible… The old chimney was demolished and the workmen saw the tunnel… At that time, approximately a decade ago, the low passage running towards the church was still intact. We then entered the building site, and observed what the workmen had seen.
Work was carried out at the foot of the party wall separating the presbytery from the church. But during the same work, in another location, another opening was discovered. This contained human opens… and opened onto a perfectly built gallery.
As we were not the only people to be shown these things, it is impossible that nobody was informed of these discoveries. Hence we do ask why we are the only ones to speak about it today… have everyone else forgotten, or are they hiding these elements?

In 1891, on December 21, Saunière writes that he got a letter from Granes. “Discovered a tomb. Rain in the evening.” It is the year when restoration work was carried out in the presbytery and the cemetery.

The kingdom of the dead

The kingdom of the dead… precisely. The plate of the chimney opened onto a passage that lead towards a crypt. But this is not all, as another low gallery, nearby, follows an identical direction. We note that in the 17th century, the construction of the building adjoining the church is thus what gives it the name “presbytery”.
Fast forward to the time of the restoration work carried out under the auspices of Terre de Rhedae. The already perplexed workmen were in line for more surprises. With the foundation of the hearth exposed, they expected to find a perfectly assembled wall, made up of good, solid equipment. But what they found was nothing of this kind. They found an assemblage of various types of stones. A bit further along, they find a perfectly though partially preserved Roman porch. What they stumbled upon was the old gate of the church! Or rather, what they had just found was the original entrance… to the Roman vault where the lords were buried.
To put it differently: the presbytery was built on the site of the porch of the original vault, which in the 14th century became the church of Mary Magdalene. Why?

One can suppose several answers:
- the style of the building may not have been in keeping with the vogue of the times. However, this seems unlikely as a Roman vault could rather easily have been updated to a Gothic style.
- the vault is deemed to contain a secret, or the lords of the village want absolute secrecy and solitude for their ancestors. As such, the access to the vault is worked into the presbytery, where the chaplain, vicar or priest will guard over it.

"Primitive State"

Let us consider the state of the site before the construction of the presbytery, to understand what could be hidden – and what they wanted to hide. We have a vault, opening in the west, which fits with the traditional building design. At this time, the dead were deposited on the perimeter of the sanctuary, like proscribed. But at some point, someone decides that this needs to be hidden – what was once obvious and known, needs to become a secret.
But this is not all. We also note that burials were normally placed along this western side of the church. This means that the presbytery is built on the site of the original cemetery.
Secondly, the chimney hides the access to a passage that leads under the church, where we can also see the original Roman porch…

Throughout the centuries, the local lords and priests maintained this secrecy, handing it down from generation to generation. But Bigou and Marie de Nègre Dables are the last in this line. It is then a century before Saunière, not held by any such tradition, seems to decide to take matters into his own hands… successfully it seems.
However, once he is aware of all of this, Saunière may have realised that someone else may notice the same thing he had. He therefore disturbs or smashes several graves in the cemetery, altering its layout. Finally, he will secure some other “giveways”, such as installing confessionals in odd places.

Finally, let us consider the place chosen by Bérenger Saunière to install his tomb, as well as that of Marie Dénarnaud. They are at the perimeter of the old cemetery, as indicated on the Marcot document. But that is not all. Marcot also labels it “approche du puisard contre le viel mantel”, which even though we do not know what it is, we do know is what would become Saunière’s domain. But, even more interesting, is that Marcot places a “demande de renseignements”, a request for information, conscientiously done by Marcot, that certain locations require punctual maintenance, for which purpose a man needs to descend and run along the advance of the water. He then adds that it is always a man from outside the village who does this work. One wonders why…

The different versions of the presbytery can be found in :
- La clef du royaume des Morts - Alain Féral
- Rennes-le-Château. Guide du Visiteur - Tatiana Kletzky-Pradere
- Moi Bérenger Saunière curé de Rennes-le-Château (tome 1) - Emile Saunière
- ‘Plan sommaire du Presbytère - au niveau de Rez’ (document d’après Mme Marie Bousent) - Martin Bousent

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