Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: solstice

The Benedictine abbey is mentioned for the first time in 1033. The foundation of the monastery complex can be located between the 10th and 11th centuries. An inscription engraved in the ancient high altar bears the date 1086, probably the year of its consecration. In 1226 the church was partially destroyed when there were violent clashes between the abbot and the community. After the reconstruction it became one of the stopping points for pilgrims on their way to Rome. In 1441 the abbey became part of the Camaldolese congregation for about two centuries. It was abandoned and sold in 1810. In the second half of the 19th century the abbey was transformed into a farm. In 1966, by the will of the last private owner, the abbey and its properties were inherited by the municipality of Apiro. Although the church has been desecrated for centuries and used as a farm building, it is, thanks to a recent renovation (also with EU funds) in a really very good condition. The crypt. For about 1,000 years, every May 25 - St. Urban's patron saint's day - and every July 19 (by symmetry with respect to the summer solstice), in the early morning hours, a ray of light enters, from an eye located above the apse, passes through the abbey, and reaches a circle, carved in the stone of a column in the left aisle, overlapping it completely. The event begins at 7:15 a.m. and ends at 7:41 a.m. At the same time, the phenomenon also occurs here inside the crypt, where a ray of light, entering through the window behind the altar, strikes a circle carved into the base of one of the columns, the only one with a circular base.

Soulosse-sous-Saint-Élophe (pop. ~650) was formed out of four hamlets. The two larger ones were Soulosse und Saint-Élophe. The church, dedicated to Saint-Élophe was built in the 13th and 15th centuries and so there is a mix of Romanesque and Gothic styles. Legends tell, that Saint Élophe (aka "Eliphius of Rampillon") preached the bible in the area and was martyred and beheaded on the spot. After his death in 363, he got up and went with his head in his hands to his burial site - the place, where the church is now. So he became a member of the large group of "kephalophores", who all carried away their own head after the death. Other members of the group are Saint Denis, Saint Sever, Saint Gohard, Saint Miniato. The tomb effigy of St. Elophe. Carved at the end of the 16th century. There is a small mysterium here. During the summer solstice (21.06) it can be observed. that the sun passing through a stained glass window projects colours that move all along the statue until the neck is lit red and the face a pale green.

The Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine is a jewel of Romanesque architecture. The nave was erected within 20 years, from 1120 on, after the preceding church burnt down, with a loss of more than 1000 lifes. The choir and the transept, seen here, were erected 1185 - 1215. They are completed already in gothic style. The relics of Sainte Marie Madeleine, that had been here since around 1050, made Vezelay to a center of pilgrimage (and the starting point of the Via Lemovizensis). But in 1279 dominican monks in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume claimed to have found the "real" sarcophagus of Sainte Marie Madeleine. Unfortunately the Dominicans found the patronage by Pope Boniface VIII and Charles d'Anjou - and so Vezelay lost it´s importance. In 1559, during the Wars of Religion, Huguenots looted Vezelay und burnt the relics, that were still in Vezelay. Today there is a golden reliquary in the large, probably carolingian crypt, so obviously at least a part of the relics are still here. Prosper Mérimée and Viollet-le-Duc saved the basilica, that was a ruin in the early 19th century. When Prosper Mérimée started the renovation of the basilica in 1840, he was 26 years old. This was the first task for the young architect.. The basicila has a length of about 100m, even more than 120, when the narthex is added. Hugues Delautre could proof in 1976, that the architects of the 12th century "implanted" a very special feature into the building. Each year at noon of the summer solstice when the sun is in the climax, the light from the south windows casts light spots in the middle of the central nave. Here are more informations and photos about this vezelay.cef.fr/lumiere.htm

The Basilique Sainte-Marie-Madeleine is a jewel of Romanesque architecture. The nave, seen here, was erected within 20 years, from 1120 on, after the preceding church burnt down, with a loss of more than 1000 lifes. The choir and the transept (erected 1185 - 1215) are already gothic. The relics of Sainte Marie Madeleine, that had been here since around 1050, made Vezelay to a center of pilgrimage (and the starting point of the Via Lemovicensis). But in 1279 dominican monks in Saint-Maximin-la-Sainte-Baume claimed to have found the "real" sarcophagus of Sainte Marie Madeleine. Unfortunately the Dominicans found the patronage by Pope Boniface VIII and Charles d'Anjou - and so Vezelay lost it´s importance. In 1559, during the Wars of Religion, Huguenots looted Vezelay und burnt the relics, that were still in Vezelay. Today there is a golden reliquary in the large, probably carolingian crypt, so obviously at least a part of the relics are still here. Prosper Mérimée and Viollet-le-Duc saved the basilica, that was a ruin in the early 19th century. When Prosper Mérimée started the renovation of the basilica in 1840, he was 26 years old. This was the first task for the young architect.. The basicila has a length of about 100m, even more than 120, when the narthex is added. Hugues Delautre could proof in 1976, that the architects of the 12th century "implanted" a very special feature into the building. Each year at noon of the summer solstice when the sun is in the climax, the light from the south windows casts light spots in the middle of the central nave. Here are more informations and photos about this vezelay.cef.fr/lumiere.htm