Pilgrimage roads

Vézelay crossroads

About 1,000 years ago, word spread that Vézelay Abbey held relics of Mary Magdalene and that miraculous healings were taking place there. This attracted more and more pilgrims from all directions.

• Relics are remains of the body of a saint or objects that have been in contact with a saint.

Vézelay is still a crossroads. Pilgrim routes from Paris, the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland converge here and then fan out towards the tomb of St James (in Spanish: Santiago) and, since 2005, that of St Francis of Assisi. Vézelay is one of many stopping places along the way.

Less well known is that Vézelay, even today, for most pilgrims is the final destination of their journey (see below: Around Vézelay).

Even less well known is the Via Arduinna, inspired by "a time when people did not yet believe in God, but in the forces of Nature. They followed the veins of the earth (underground water currents, magnetic earth currents) to connect them with the heavens." Their destination was the sacred hill of the Celtic goddess Arduinna, in Margut (northern France). The Via Arduinna follows these lines of energy through the Ardennes and connects with the sacred hill of Vézelay.

Star Road and Peace Path

The Liber Sancti Jacobi (Book of Saint James), also known as the Codex Calixtinus, is the oldest surviving manuscript about the Camino de Santiago. It was probably compiled around 1140, possibly by a priest in Asquins, at the foot of the hill of Vézelay. Among many other things, the Codex mentions four pilgrimage routes through France, including the one from Vézelay. It also recounts a legend about Emperor Charlemagne, who saw “a path of stars” in a dream, leading to the tomb of the apostle James. The earthly pilgrimage route would follow this heavenly road of stars. After all, everything is connected to everything else.
Other legends say that the Camino follows an ancient Celtic road to the Cape at the End of the World (Cabo Fisterra), on the Atlantic Ocean. There, the sun sets and there lies the realm of the dead and rebirth.

In 1217, the Franciscans founded their first monastery in France at the foot of Vézelay, near the Sainte-Croix (Holy Cross) chapel. The chapel was built to commemorate the call for the Second Crusade. The monastery is called La Cordelle, which refers to the cord that Franciscans wear around their waists. Since 2005, La Cordelle has been the starting point of a pilgrimage route to Assisi and the tomb of Saint Francis: Chemin d’Assise, chemin de paix (path of peace).

Around Vézelay

Pilgrims are sometimes on the road for weeks or months. We ourselves walked, in stages, roughly 6,000 km towards Jerusalem. In our hostels, we welcomed pilgrims who came on foot or by bicycle from faraway places such as Copenhagen, London, Warsaw, Prague and Istanbul. The long journey adds a special dimension: all those seasons, landscapes, languages and cultures. But in essence, it is not about quantity (kilometres) but about quality. Especially around Vézelay, we experience how pilgrims turn short pilgrimages into meaningful journeys.

Every year, thousands of pilgrims travel to Vézelay, either alone or in groups. In 2025, the Scouts d'Europe walked to Vézelay from all directions for the 50th time in a few days. There are also annual pilgrimages by the Pères de famille and the Mères de famille. The shortest journey is on 22 July, the name day of Mary Magdalene, when pilgrims carry her relics up from the foot of the hill back to the basilica. It is a church holiday and a special day for pilgrims for whom Mary Magdalene has a personal spiritual significance.

Our Tour de Vézelay and our one-day walk Around the Eternal Hill follow these traditions.