Rennes le Chateau

A poor country priest becomes mysteriously wealthy. Decades later, forged documents create a myth. Despite debunking, the myth persists. Rennes-le-Château is a case study in how mystery creates pilgrimage.

Father Bérenger Saunière was assigned to Rennes-le-Château in 1885. The village was poor; so was the priest. In 1891, he began renovating the decrepit Church of St. Mary Magdalene. During the work, he reportedly discovered parchments hidden in a hollow pillar.

Shortly afterward, his circumstances changed. He began spending lavishly—far beyond his modest salary. He built the Tour Magdala, the Villa Bethania, and renovated the church with expensive and unusual decorations. His housekeeper Marie Dénarnaud shared his secrets but revealed nothing substantial before her death.

Saunière himself faced Church discipline for his suspicious wealth. He was briefly suspended from his priestly duties. He died in 1917 without revealing the source of his funds.

In the 1950s and 60s, a hotelier named Noël Corbu began promoting treasure theories to attract tourists. In the same period, Pierre Plantard created forged documents purporting to show that Saunière had discovered proof of a secret society called the Priory of Sion, which guarded the bloodline of Jesus through Mary Magdalene. These documents were planted in the French National Library and accepted as genuine by the authors of 'Holy Blood, Holy Grail' (1982).

The forgeries were exposed in the 1990s. Yet the mystery persists. 120,000 visitors annually testify to its power.