The ruins of this castle, close to those of the Château-de-Bézu lie on the D14 between Rennes-les-Bains and Bugarach. Its connection to the mystery of Rennes-le-Château comes from Jules verne. In his book Clovis Dardentor, he mentions that what is left of this castle has the shape of a ship with three bridges. It is pointing towards Mount Bugarach. Verne connects it to Captain Bugarach, the man he named after the mountain.

If there’s anyone out there with a clear picture of the boatshape of these ruins, I’d be very interested to post it here!

Many thanks to the members on this forum for their information, the photo and allowing me to post this.

Study by François-Marius Granet of his painting La Mort de Poussin (The Death of Poussin). Unfortunately, the original, bought by Demidoff, was destroyed in 1945 when his Villa was bombarded. He had bought it to put on display at the Salon of 1834. (the Salon being the state sponsored Parisian exhibitions of painting and sculpture held during the July Monarchy and Second Republic (1831–1851).

The painting depicts the death of French painter Nicolas Poussin in the presence of Cardinal Massimo. At the left, over the head of the dying painter you can see Poussin’s most famous work: the second version of The Shepherd’s of Arcadia.

From the same painting, an etching was made by Félix Braquemond. Many thanks to Belgian researcher Kurt Impens for sharing this with me.

©2007-2008 rlcresearch.com, all rights reserved Photo copyright by Bernard Terlay of the Granet Museum, special thanks to Frédéric Premartin for sharing it.

Anyone who has visited Rennes-le-Château over the last couple of years will have noticed that the Saunière estate is in a bad state. If nothing is done soon, two of the major landmarks in the Mystery of Rennes-le-Château, the Villa Bethania and the Tour Magdala will have to be closed for the public or worse.

Alex Painco, the new Major, is calling to the rescue. Since Rennes-le-Château is a tiny village, in spite of what you would expect from the visitor numbers, it has very few resources at its disposal. To be able to restore the Villa Bethania and the Tour Magdala to its original splendour, the Community Council is asking everyone that carries the village and the mystery in his/her heart to make a donation. Every donor will be added to the official community list, maintained to keep track of all restoration work to the domain. It’s an elegant way for every enthusiast to become associated with the Saunière estate for eternity.

Any amount can be sent to:

la Mairie de Rennes le Château,
à l’ordre du Trésor Public,
Mairie,
11190 Rennes le Château
France

Inhabitants of France can transfer the money by national bank transfer:
Mairie de Rennes le Château
Banque de France
CODE BANQUE : 30001
CODE GUICHET 00257
N° Compte 0000S050043
CLE RIB 17

Anyone who wants to donate from abroad, please transfer the money using the International Bank Account Number (IBAN):
Rennes le Château - ( Banque de France)
IBAN : FR35 3000 1002 5700 00S0 5004 317
BDF BIC (Swift) : BDFEFRPPCCT

More photos can be seen on the village’s official website.

Photos copyright Jean-Patrick Pourtal (thanks Jean-Patrick)