Construction of Vézelay Abbey

Vézelay Abbey is a Benedictine abbey in Burgundy, in central France, founded in the ninth century, and later affiliated with the great monastery of Cluny. In the eleventh century the monks claimed to possess the relics of Mary Magdalene, which made it a leading pilgrimage destination, and one of the starting points of the pilgrim routes to Santiago de Compostela. Bernard of Clairvaux preached the Second Crusade there, and Richard the Lionheart and Philip II of France gathered with their armies at Vézelay before leaving on the Third Crusade. The great church, begun in the twelfth century, is a major monument of Romanesque art, with a famous carved tympanum and capitals. It was named a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1979.

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