Abbey Church of Sainte-Marie-Madeleine, West Facade South TowerAbbey Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, West Facade South Tower

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The present Abbey Church of Sainte-Marie Madeleine was built during the 12th C. after the Pope declared that the Benedictine monastery at Vézelay possessed the relics of St. Mary Magdalene, a contemporary and disciple of Jesus Christ, and transformed the church into a magnet for pilgrims and luminaries alike. Sainte-Marie-Madeleine was the site where, in 1146, St. Bernard of Clairvaux preached to launch the Second Crusade. It was at this church where Richard I, the Lionheart and Philippe Auguste set aside rivalries and met to set out on the Third Crusade in 1190. Until 1279, when Angevine King Charles II proclaimed the saint's relics to be in Provence and not in Burgundy, Sainte-Marie-Madeleine and Vézelay flourished. The first building campaign of the Romanesque period erected the choir, transept and, perhaps, part of the nave and narthex; this was consecrated in 1104. Local rebellion provoked by high taxes levied against townspeople by the monastery, and feuds between secular and rel

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