Gaul’s Solar Alignment: A Secret Deeper than Rennes-Le-Chateau

In 54 BC, the Celtic Mandubii tribe ruled by Vercingetorix capitulated to Julius Caesar and so ended Gaul’s resistance to Rome. However, was the Battle of Alesia, located in southern France actually fought at Alaise, in eastern France? Like the famous Rennes-le-Chateau, both sites share a secret of great ancient astronomical significance.  Historian Ashley Cowie used the busts of two famous French historians to unravel an ancient archaeoastronomy secret:  Medieval churches built along a solstice alignment covering Iron Age sites.

Rennes-le-Chateau, Famous French Mystery Village

Rennes-le-Château is a small hilltop village in Languedoc in southern France that shot to international fame when the 1982 worldwide bestseller The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail sensationalized the story of a 19th-century priest, Father Bérenger Saunière, who is said to have unearthed a great treasure there. Although the story has always had its skeptics, when Dan Brown retold it in his 2003 book The Da Vinci Code, Rennes-le-Château saw over 100,000 mystery seeking tourists in the first year.

This tale of mystery and intrigue reflects many of the clues and components that have made Rennes-le-Château famous. It revolves around a French hilltop village church that is located amidst mysterious landscape alignments. What is more, an inner circle of famous French historical figures all shared a secret about the village, a secret of great and ancient astronomical significance.