Chris Goes to the Hermitage of St. Emilion

This is a picture of the giant steeple that they built on top of the underground Eglise Monolith (monolithic church) and the Hermitage (cave) of St. Emilion. It is pretty impressive. Too bad that it is so heavy that it is threatening to collapse the underground structures it was built on.

Directly underneath this steeple is the cave that St. Emilion lived in. I didn't take any pictures inside because it was just a cave, plus there were a lot of people inside getting in the way, and I didn't want to use a flash in such a sacred sort of place. It consisted of a staircase, a main room, a nook to put a bed in, and a small grotto in which an underground stream made a little fountain area. Supposedly the water from the fountain helps to alleviate diseases of the eye. But there wasn't an easy way to reach down and get some. A lot of people did the next best thing, which was throw money in the fountain. It was full of change. I'm not sure that has the same effect as drinking the water, but what do I know?

This is the ceiling of the Chapelle de la Trinite, which was quite old. The paintings date back to the middle ages. The picture didn't come out so good because I didn't want to use a flash for ear of damaging the art work. It was already pretty faded.

Here are a pair of cenotaphs, which are like gravestones, but for people who died far away and those whose bodies were never recovered. These are from two Knights Templar crusaders. The palm tree design on the far one is a crusader symbol. It looks like it was really dark in there right? But it wasn't, it was bright daylight. I'm not sure why the picture came out like this.

This was from inside the catacombs, looking up. Once the monks got tired of coming down here and burying people, they just tossed the bodies down a hole. They would fall through here and pile up on the floor where I'm standing.

Here's another picture from inside the catacombs.

I don't have any pictures from inside the Eglise Monolith, which is really the main attraction here. It is a giant cathedral that was carved out of solid rock. It took the monks 400 years to do it and it is quite impressive. Unfortunately there is major restoration work going on because it is about to collapse. So, it is currently filled with giant steel columns which really ruin the aesthetic. Someday soon they will be done and then it will look nice again. Right now there is little reason to take a picture inside.

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