Vézelay Valley of the River Cure

The Benedictine abbey of Vézelay was from the mid eleventh century the site of one of the greatest pilgrimages of the medieval world for it claimed possession of the relics of Mary Magdalene. Vézelay, itself was situated by the location of a much older pilgrimage which went back to prehistoric times. This was because of the salt water fountain which, due to its curative powers, acquired the reputation of a miraculous sacred spring. In the Gallo-Roman period it was an important religious sanctuary with thermal baths. In the ninth century a monastery was founded there but was soon relocated to the summit of the hill which overlooked the valley, the site of the present Romanesque basilica built at the end of the eleventh and early twelfth centuries.

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