Winter Lights at Vézelay

The basilica gets brighter at the winter solstice

Around the winter solstice, the sunlight plays beautifully with the interior architecture of the basilica of Vézelayin keeping with the intention and art of the monk-builders.

"The period around the winter solstice is paradoxically the brightest in the abbey church of Vézelay. It's the time of year when the church is at its brightest",

says Véronique Feugère, guide and lecturer at the Visitors' Centre.

How darkness is transformed into light

A model of the basilicainstalled in the Visitors' Centre, recreates the sun's path over the building on the day of the solstices.

This model allows you to understand why, at every hour of the day, light plays with your interior architecture.

From 21 December until the beginning of January, from sunrise to sunset, a marvellous show will be staged in the abbey church:

Steps of light appear in the morning on the floor of the north aisle.

In the afternoon, the Romanesque capitals are bathed in sunlight.

On this cloudy afternoon, lecturer Christopher Kelly introduces a group of around fifteen people to the symbolism of the vaults, windows and sculptures in the abbey church.

"The stone is the body of the church, it's as if it's being lifted up by the light all year round," he explains.

At the winter solstice

Pausing for a moment at the foot of the sculpted capital depicting David subduing a lion, Christopher explains the intimate struggles at the heart of humanity:

How do people move from anger to tenderness, how do they all life is "transformation", and how darkness is transformed into light.

It was at this very moment that the clouds parted and the sun made a brief, intense appearance, finally illuminating the high capitals to the north of the nave, as well as the pillars, which were lit by a more subtle glow.

The magic of Christmas has worked againThe church, built in the Middle Ages by the monks who built it, is a stone vessel capable of harnessing the light.

Christine Joseph, Yonne Républicain correspondent

Article published in the Yonne Républicain on 30 December 2017