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Off to Spain

Since Rennes-le-Château has been commercialised, the local industry has done a lot – and sometimes too much – to make sure that interest in the mystery of Bérenger Saunière stayed local. Still, probably the two most principle researchers of the enigma, Antoine Captier and Claire Corbu, wrote how everyone knew that Saunière often disappeared from the village, for days on end. The locals knew he had gone, but did not know where to. They believed it was Paris or Spain.

A century on, we know Saunière disappeared to various locations: Perpignan, near Lyon, perhaps Paris, perhaps Spain. The problem of tracing down Saunière in Lyon or Paris is not easy. The larger the town, the more difficult it is to retrace his steps and find evidence of his presence. As it was clear he desired to mask his tracks, recovering such evidence is all the more difficult. And if a village is too small – like Rennes-le-Château – a type of local “omerta” exists, whereby no-one is allowed to meddle in the private affaires of the villagers.

Girona

The Spanish town of Girona is therefore probably just about the right size: not too big, not too small, though “unfortunately” for any outsider, also firmly Catalan: there is a tradition of “omerta”, making a distinction between the Catalans and anyone else.
Despite such traditions in place, one outsider, Patrice Chaplin, who retained her surname from a marriage to Charlie Chaplin’s son, tried – and largely succeeded – in uncovering the secret of the city. A formidable author in her own right, in “City of Secrets”, she unveils her lifelong involvement with the inhabitants of Girona, a town she fell in love with as a 15 year old girl, and to whom she returned often.

Girona sits just south of Figueres, a short hop across the border from the French town of Perpignan. For certain Rennes researchers, Girona is therefore by default too far and they will immediately dispel the new evidence. After all, since 1995, André Douzet’s allegation that Saunière visited Durban-Corbières and Perillos – much closer than Perpignan – has upset some of the aforementioned businessmen in Rennes-le-Château. They furthermore claimed Saunière could not make such journeys in time – apparently totally unaware of the existence of a far better train network than today: Couiza still has a station, but that of Durban-Corbières has long been demolished.

So what does Patrice Chaplin have in wait for her allegation that Saunière frequented Girona – even further than Perpignan?

Trips abroad

Like André Douzet in 1995, when he claimed that Saunière travelled to Lyon, Patrice Chaplin has partially relied on letters from Saunière that show he travelled to Girona. As mentioned, Saunière often left Rennes-le-Château. According to Chaplin, he hired transport from the Grand Hotel des Pyrénées in Quillan. He hired them to take him to the station and sometimes as far as Perpignan. The driver had to wait on the hill at Rennes-le-Château, but outside of the parish, so that the parishioners would not notice – they did.

In her research, Chaplin has seen several timetables, from various periods, some likely to have been used by Saunière himself. From what she gathers, Saunière’s trips into Perpignan were often easy and uneventful, but it were the Spanish trains that were the problem. He seems to have often come up on the Wednesday, to return on Saturday, in time for the Sunday service. According to the local stories, he was always delayed getting back for the Sunday service. “One day, he had to have a coach and horses to get him back from the border. Later he hired a car and chauffeur.” In a letter to a friend in Quillan, dated May 13, 1897, a woman he visited in Girona states: “He is very kind and I feel transformed when he is here – as I should be … and then he always has to leave, oh, so suddenly – and then I feel terribly alone.” Another letter, undated, except for “Friday night”, sheds further light on Saunière’s system of communication with Marie Dénarnaud at home: “Dear Marie, Yesterday Guillem made a discovery that could be extraordinary if it is what I think it is, so I will have to stay here and won’t be back on Sunday. Can you send the second letter to Carcassonne immediately?” As the letter contains a reference to his brother Alfred coming over, it is clear it predates his brother’s death in 1905. The letter further suggests that Marie had to send a prepared letter to the bishopric, no doubt listing an excuse – illness? – that Saunière would be unable to conduct the Sunday service.

"The House of Canons”

Like in Lyons, we know where Saunière stayed while in Girona. The centre of Saunière’s life there was the so-called “House of the Canons”, now no longer in existence. All that remains is its garden, used for concerts, and the archway to it, which still has the Latin inscription “Domus Canon”, “House of the canons”, named after the members of the cathedral chapter – logical, seeing the Girona cathedral is nearby.
The address of the house was “3 Sant Cristòfol” and records indicate it was acquired by one Joaquim Massaguer Vidal, the person who had completed the house and its enigmatic tower on December 3, 1851. He would later become mayor of Girona, from 1869 to 1872. He was a member of the Progresistas, the radical liberal party.
Much later, on December 5, 1932, it was acquired by Joan Saguer for 1250 pesetas. Four days later, on December 9, 1932, Joan Saguer sold it – to Roger Mathieu and Marie Augusta Bertroz. On December 9, 1940, Mathieu died and his widow became the sole proprietor.

Then, in 1962, the mayor requested that the municipality could purchase the estate, and one Senora Juncosa carried out the transaction for the widow Mathieu, who had been living in Paris since 1955. The sale went through on August 31, 1962. Shortly afterwards, the municipality demolished the building – some say stone by stone. Only the garden remained – and remains – intact and is known as the “els jardins de la francesa” – the garden of the Frenchwoman.

“Torre Magdala”

The house is full of intrigue. Some said it was cursed. According to the locals, Claude Debussy came here. Debussy, of course, was said to have been a grandmaster of the mythical Priory of Sion, a dubious distinction he received because he was a key figure in the Parisian occult circles at the turn of the 20th century. According to Chaplin, the house once held exotic sculptures, ancient effigies, magnificent fabrics, including golden wallpaper coming from Duchesne in Paris. Some of the more exotic plants in the garden and house were said to have been given by Saunière himself. And like Corbu dug up the Villa Bethania once Marie Denarnaud had died, when Chaplin entered the house in 1955, she found the floor of one room dug up, tiles having been smashed. Half-burnt papers were found in the fireplace.

But that is not the most important aspect of this tower. The tower is of interest, for it appears to be a carbon copy of the Tour Magdala. On the internet, one can read a short article by a local politician, Fransesc Ferrer Gironès, who mentions the link between Rennes-le-Château and Girona. But we owe it to Chaplin to print clear photographs that show the tower of the House of the Canons is a carbon copy of the Tour Magdala. As the Girona tower was constructed in 1851, it is clear who copied from whom.

Spanish interests

Letter from Saunière. © Patrice Chaplin.

As Saunière completed the Villa Bethania – which included the Tour Magdala – in 1906, and construction began ca. 1900-1901, Saunière must have visited Girona before 1900. “Traditionalists” would argue that the likely period is hence 1891 to 1900 – the former date being arrived at because it is widely held as the year he made a major discovery. But as we have shown elsewhere, Saunière had anomalous sources of income much earlier, dating back to 1886.
It therefore does not come as a surprise – at least not to us – that Chaplin has uncovered a letter from 1888 that provides key evidence. Its contents suggested that it was in 1888 that it was the first time Saunière would come to Girona. A certain Tomàs writes: “the house is behind the cathedral and easily recognisable because of the tower constructed thirty years ago. Juli Tarres awaits your arrival.”

The contents of the letter suggest that Saunière was unfamiliar with the town, Tomàs helping him to locate a specific location – the Tower. It suggests Saunière knew at least Tomàs and was expecting to meet one Juli Tarres. Tarres owned a bookshop, specialising in ancient texts and rare books.
Another letter, sent to Juli, dated 1892, perhaps by Saunière, are from a work entitled “Writings on the Rose Cross” by Julien Sacaze. There was also material in there about the “Inscriptions Antiques des Pyrénées”, which was published posthumously in 1892 (Sacaze having died in 1889). Sacaze was a French writer on Rosicrucian matters, as well as the president of several archaeological organisations in the south of France. Both rare books, archaeological discoveries… if not Rosicrucianism… are all known to be close to Saunière’s heart.

Saunière came from 1888 onwards. And on letter dated February 6, 1901 reads: “I will arrive Wednesday late so please wait up for me. Otherwise leave the other door open. I will bring some plants.
Can you find out the measurements of the foundations and if they know how that precise figure was arrived at?
You will have to go and see the architect, or better still, ask Dalmas to go. He must get a copy of the plans.”
The letter is key, for the plans are believed to refer to the plans of the tower of the house – plans which he seems to have wanted – need – to duplicate this tower on his estate in Rennes-le-Château.

The key

Saunière stayed – apparently days on end – in this enigmatic house, which he obviously loved dearly as he had it copied. Known as the house of the French woman, it was this woman that Saunière came to see.

The tower of Girona. © Patrice Chaplin.

Her name was Maria Tourdes and she was French. She was born in Quillan, south of Rennes-le-Château, around 1880. Maria apparently met Saunière in Quillan, with her parents and Ernest Cros, the archaeologist. How precisely she ended up living in Girona in this house is not altogether explained by Chaplin, but it may be that she was placed there – either by Saunière and/or his Girona contacts, perhaps as a local point of contact.
Was she his love? Above, we have seen how “alone” she felt when Saunière had left. But it is equally clear there was more to it than that. Furthermore, in 1907, she married to Roger Mathieu, who died in 1940. He acquired the home from the Massaguer family, with the help of Joan Saguer, who apparently functioned as a go-between, so that the money of the Mathieu family would not be traced – and/or certain taxes were avoided.
Apparently, Mathieu already had a home in Llanca, further north up the coast, and the marriage seems to have been one of convenience. He was much older and – according to the people involved in this story – worked for the Vatican – sent by the Vatican to spy on Tourdes – and Saunière? He was also rumoured to have other women elsewhere.

Remembered as “the Frenchwoman”, it seems she stayed largely a local enigma, being visited only by a small group of people – each of whom seems to have had a connection to Saunière. According to Chaplin, she received large sums of money from Saunière, sometimes through his brother Alfred. This may tie in with evidence uncovered by Pierre Jarnac and reported on by Guy Patton: “a police file still exists containing some details of a judicial enquiry, following Saunière’s death in 1917, into the source of his revenue. Although the nature of the evidence is now unknown, the enquiry did conclude that he had been ‘trafficking in gold with Spain’.” It is no doubt an ironic fate that his greatest admirer, Pierre Plantard, would much later too be charged – and convicted – with transactions from France – into Switzerland this time.Parisian exile

Maria Tourdes. © Patrice Chaplin.

As the overview of the ownership of the house makes clear, the house was sold to the municipality in 1962. At the time, Maria Tourdes was still alive. In 1955, when Chaplin entered the local scene, Maria Tourdes left Girona, to her apartment in Paris. To Chaplin, she said: “They want me to leave. I did leave after the war, the Second World War, and never thought I’d come back.” She did, but only to return in “exile” a few years later.
Though in exile in the French capital, her friends of Girona came to visit. In 1961 or 1962, someone else came to visit her: Gérard de Sède. Chaplin claims that “the Frenchwoman” was one of de Sède’s primary sources of information, from which he went on to write his pioneering book on the mystery of Rennes-le-Château.

Tourdes apparently never returned south, dying between 1962 and 1968. She left more questions than answers, but some questions can be answered. During her first time in exile, in a letter from June 16, 1951, between two friends of Maria (from Pepita to Dolores), Pepita wrote how she had seen Maria in Paris. Maria was wealthy and the money apparently came from Saunière. Though this is unsubstantiated, it seems that Maria Tourdes’ money was invested in the Belgian Congo – and apparently she made some business trips from Paris to Brussels to check up on her investments.
A letter dated October 20, 1951, sent by Maria from the Gran Balneario in the spa town of Caldas de Malavella, to Dolores, informs Dolores she cannot take care of the “Brussels matter”. She instructs Dolores, who largely acted as her investment assistant, to do a transfer from bank accounts from France to the Banco di Roma, and check up on investments in London. She asks whether it is true that “la bonne” in Rennes has died. This was Marie Dénarnaud… who had not yet died. In the letter, Dolores wanted to know about the position of the shepherd’s crook, but Maria tells her she cannot help her, though Saunière never did anything by chance. It reveals that Dolores was interested in more than just the money and her friend… and that Saunière’s visits to Spain were more than money trafficking.

Twin Towers

Chaplin asked some of the people who knew “the priest” “Why did Saunière come here?” They replied: “To follow the instructions left in code by Bigou. To find the material and to use it. The tower was the key. He gave Maria Tourdes enough money to acquire the house at whatever price from the Church. It was the first time it had passed into the hands of a secular person. A lawyer, Saguer, fronted the deal.” Though that deal would legally be sealed only much later, Tourdes was obviously shuttled into a position whereby she was allowed to live there. A letter from the same Tomàs to Saunière suggests that even then, Saguer was put forward as the ideal go-between. As to how to clear the hurdle of receiving Massaguer’s permission for her to live there, Chaplin’s contacts suggest he was part of a society, a group, which seems to have included the likes of Tarres and Tomàs: men who were in contact with Saunière and seemed to share a common agenda – whomever had contacted the other one first.

The Tour Magdala

Saunière’s letters look genuine. The story, however difficult it will be to be believed by some, is logical. But the all important and most telling aspect of this story is the fact that Girona had a tower that was almost identical to the Tour Magdala.
Until 1995, the tower was seen as a folly – a one off. In 1995, André Douzet pointed out how a tower in Virieu, above Pélussin, in the Pilat region, looked somewhat similar to the Tour Magdala and might have served as his inspiration. Now, we know that there was an almost identical tower – in Girona. We know Saunière visited the town, stayed in the Tower and asked Maria Tourdes to get hold of the plans, at a time when Saunière was about to begin construction of his tower in Rennes-le-Château. That cannot be a coincidence.

To quote Alan Scott: “The Magdala tower I suppose one can say, was Saunière's crowning achievement. His church was certainly a great work but compared to this, the villa Bethanie was of particular importance and it must have filled him with a great sense of pride and personal achievement. Something which perhaps his many other projects failed to do.”
Within a Spanish context, the Tour Magdala definitely seems to have been a crowing achievement – perhaps even within a Kabbalistic context – and it may indeed have been his “Great Work.”

Saunière entrusted the construction of this building to Elie Bot, a local mason and builder, who had also been responsible for carrying out much of the work on the church. It was in 1901 that construction began and the work was completed towards the middle of 1906. In April 1906, 23 square metres of parquet flooring were laid and on August 27, 1906, Bot took possession of the elaborate library furniture that had been delivered at the station of Couiza. This was immediately installed within the tower; soon after, the windows and doors were added.
The whole project cost in the region of 45,000 francs. Accounts from Elie Bot can still be seen in the form of invoices and scribbled notes. In Saunière's time, the average daily wage for a worker was about 3.0 francs per day, which means that such a worker would have needed to struggle for 41 years in order to pay for such a lavish building.

In his observations, Alan Scott adds: “Even by today's standards this does seem a rather large sum of money for a building which architecturally does not appear complex or demanding. One can only assume that his instructions were so complex and specific that this perhaps was the reason for such a cost.” Indeed. Within a Spanish context, we now know that Saunière must have furnished Bot with a set of architectural drawings, with the request to carry these out precisely.
We know from anecdotal evidence that Saunière and Bot had formed quite a close relationship over the years and there are stories of Bot being present at lavish dinner parties – similar parties being hosted by Maria Tourdes in Girona and apparently attended by Debussy; according to local gossip, other leading occultists visited the house too. We will probably never know whether Bot was invited to come over, to see the Girona tower before he set about work in Rennes-le-Château.

A carbon copy

Again according to Alan Scott, writing without the benefit of the Spanish information, he stated: “extremely precise dimensions seem to have been used and one cannot help but wonder why these in particular were chosen in preference to more regular ones. For example the overall width could have been made 6.0m or 5.5m with everything else scaled in proportion. [...] If you look at the tower from its sides, you will see that decorative arches have been made along the upper courses. These are also partly cantilevered so that the upper floor area is slightly larger than that of the ground floor. [...] maybe Saunière was working to some exact plan which we have not completely understood.” That, it now seems clear, is precisely the case. Furthermore, we know there are repeated references to the number 22 throughout this tower: the number of steps is based on twice 11 or 22. The number 22 has often been seen as a reference to Mary Magdalene, but in origin, it was more strongly linked with the Kabbalah than with Mary Magdalene. It is in a Kabbalistic direction that Chaplin is steering us.