Rennes le Château and Abbott (abbé) Saunière

The story begins in 1885 when a certain Béranger Saunière was nominated at the head of the parish of Rennes le Château.

Son of a wealthy notable, frank and outspoken, unpretentious, intelligent and smart, he was also a militant monarchist.

Annoyed by the sermons he preached, the French Republic, which had not yet installed the clear separation between the Church and the State, stopped his stipend.

Thanks to the generosity of his parishioners, the Abbott nevertheless began urgent repairs to the church, and at that moment would make some mysterious discovery. Parchments? Relics ? Gold coins ? « Only the Lord knows ». Whatever he found, from that time onwards, and helped by his servant and friend Marie Denarnaud, he would multiply his seraches and digs within the church and in its cemetery.

Around 1900, he began spending staggering sums of money. He renovated the church from top to bottom, and restored the old presbytery. He had the spacious Béthania Villa built, together with a garden, a conservatory, and a neo-gothic tower housing a library. He is estimated to have spent some 660.000 francs, or about 2.000.000€ at today’s prices.

In 1908, his eccesiastical superiors, irritated by his luxurious life-style, summoned him to justify the source of his revenues. This he did so ineptly that he was condemned to « suspense à divinis », which deprived him of his sacerdotal powers.

Marie Denarnaud, his inheritor, carried the secret to her grave, and from this time onwards the wildest speculations have been made regarding the origins of his wealth.

The Terre de Rhédae Association has opened a museum in the old presbytery, just next to the church, and the many documents, letters and objects it features enable the visitor to reconstitute some of the aspects of Abbott Saunières life.