In 1995, French researcher André Douzet discovered a topographical model of the Holy Places from the beginning of the 20th century. In an envelope, taped to the bottom of the model he found a number of letters and specifications, allegedly written by Bérenger Saunière to the model maker. In one letter Saunière talks about the specifications for the model. In a second letter that was recently published he talks about a second copy of the model intended for another priest in an unknown location.

The Model illustrates the primary sites associated with the biblical Passion of Christ in Jerusalem, including the location of two notable tombs; that of Jesus Christ and his uncle, Joseph of Armathea. The model is a clay pre-production copy, intended to be made in brass. The correspondence suggests that the end product was never finished. Saunière died before it could be produced. Douzet suspected Saunière had wanted to leave a last clue. The topography didn’t match the sites in the Holy Land the model said to depict. For years he fruitlessly tried to place the model in the Rennes-le-Château region. It was only when he wanted to make a copy of the model for exposition at the Villa Bethania that he recognised a feature on the negative plastic mould: the Roc Redon, near the ruined village of Perillos.

The village of Perillos was once occupied by the Lords of Perillos, who counted among them the illustrous Ramon de Perillos, Grandmaster of the Order of the Knights of Malta. Perillos was part of the parish of Durban-Corbières. A number of familiar priests headed that parish. Both Antoine Gélis and Henri Boudet were once priest in Durban. Locals of the village remember Saunière visiting certain families and having an interest in their archives.

Today Perillos lies abandoned in one of the roughest and most barren landscapes in France. The closest inhabited place is Opoul-Perillos. In search of what it could be Saunière had wanted to tell about Perillos, Douzet stumbled upon a notary register from the 1632, in which the royal notary Courtade described the transfer of land from Spain to France as a result of Mazarin’s Treaty of the Pyrenees. On one of its pages, it mentioned in a small paragraph a ground that contained a piece of land which, administratively, was untouchable, non-transmissible, on which it was forbidden to cut or collect wood, stones or remove anything else from it. Even the lords of Perillos were subject to this law. Furthermore, the land couldn’t be sold. It was a closed enclave, without access, within the grounds of the lords of Perillos. They had to guard it, but weren’t allowed to manage it. It didn’t belong to them and in no manner were they to intervene or make use of it. It has been documented that also Cassini had a more than average interest in the area. This hero of France, known for his famous Cassini-map did the first ever topographical survey of France. He spent almost 1½ years in Opoul, which is an extraordinary amount of time for a small territory, relative to the rest of France that he had to map. He lived in modest conditions in Opoul, despite the fact that he normally lived in luxury. Despite all the time he spent there, he did not provide a detailed survey of Perillos. According to Douzet, he left the area where the tombs are empty on his Cassini map. Armed with the Courtade document and the model, Douzet claims he found the two tombs indicated on the model. He visited the tomb, described as ‘Tomb of Joseph of Arimathea’ and found some coins, nails and cups inside. He found the ‘Tomb of Christ’ sealed shut with a round stone of 2 metres in diameter.

In August 2008, a French researcher came forward with evidence that the claims proves that the two tombs are a hoax.

Perillos on Google Maps

The landscape of Perillos is impressive regardless of any possibly hidden secret there. The plains are overlooked by the magnificent plateau of Opoul, that once housed a castle with a garisson and a small community. It’s not hard to imagine why anyone would hide a secret here. The area is ridden with caves and cravasses. It would take years to systematically search this piece of land. The history of Perillos and any possible links to the Mystery of Rennes-le-Château are investigated in incredible detail by Société Perillos, the research society of André Douzet and Philip Coppens.
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Photos of Perillos

This week, Société Perillos finally published one of the letters that were found with the famous Saunière Model. This concludes 13 years of uncertainty about the authenticity of this model.

The letter contains general comments about the model and the implementation of certain requested details. Intriguingly at the very end of the letter, Saunière names an unknown priest in an unknown town who would be the receiver of the second model:

                          Rennes-le-Château le…..

Cher monsieur,

Je vous remercie de votre dernière lettre.
Voici les renseignements que je vous
donne en pièces séparées. Ce sont les
cartes et les vues conformes à mes
explications précédentes pour le moulage.
Vous voudrez bien me faire savoir si
ma commande est susceptible d’être
agrée puisque ces détails obligent à
modifier ce projet et son devis.
Je compte que vous veillerez à ce que
ceci améliore l’aspect et les
informations attendues sur le relief des
terrains, mesures et dimensions totales.
Je vous demande de faire
parvenir, comme convenu à la
commande, l’autre modèle à
mon confrère Monsieur l’abbé
….. curé doyen de……

The model is pivotal in the theory involving Saunière’s dealings in the ruined village of Perillos.

Read the full article about this on Société Perillos. 

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The locations associated with the mystery of Rennes-le-Château can be found in the French Languedoc-Roussillon area. Roughly the area is marked by the city of Carcassonne in the North, the Pyrenees in the South and Perpignan on the Eastern perimeter.

The two main areas of focus in the mystery are the region around Rennes-le-Château and Rennes-les-Bains (RED rectangle) and the Perillos region (BLUE rectangle).

The most important place is Rennes-le-Château itself. Here you’ll find the domain of Abbé Saunière, the church of St. Mary Magdalene that he renovated and refurbished as well as the Château Hautpoul, once home to the important Hautpoul-Blanchefort family that appear to be at the root of the mystery.

The Château de Blanchefort and the Château de Bézu both play a role in local legends involving the Knights Templar.

Montazels is the birthplace of Abbé Saunière.

Rennes-les-Bains is the place where Abbé Boudet wrote his enigmatic work La Vraie Language Celtique in which he allegedly hid 12 hding places of treasure. It is also the village where you’ll find Mount Cardou, the Devil’s Armchair, the Source of the Circle, the Source of the Madeleine and the enigmatic tombs of Abbé Jean Vié and Paul-Urbain de Fleury.

In Coustaussa you’ll find the ruined Château de Coustaussa and the church and presbytery once inhabited by Abbé Gélis who’s incredibly violent murder was never solved and might have a relation to the mystery.

Mount Bugarach is the most prominent landmark in the area, steeped in mystery and legend.

Saunière allegedly depicted the area around the ruined village of Perillos on a model of the Holy Places he ordered just before his death. The landscape features a perfect triangle between the chapel of the ruined Château de Salvaterra, the chapel of Oriole and the chapel of St. Michael in the ruined village of Perillos.

The Château or (Forteresse) the Salses was built by the Aragon’s, once rulers of this part of France that feature in the Perillos myths and legends.

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On the western wall of the Church of Saint Mary Magdalene, Saunière had an enormous fresco installed. It’s colorfulness and richness adds much to the character of the church that has been described by many a researcher as gaudy or kitsch. The fresco is positioned over the confessional.

The Fresco was placed there in 1897 together with the statues of Asmodeus, the Saints and the Stations of the Cross. What Saunière depicted here has been subject of endless debate. Among the candidates are Puivert (Jacques Rivière), the surroundings of Rennes-le-Château (Pierre Jarnac) and Rennes-les-Bains (Ben Hammott). (more…)

Impressive and well-preserved fortification close to Perillos, built in 1497 by Ferdinand the Catholic of Aragon.

After the Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed, it came into French hands and was the home of Vauban. The castle, and the route it protects before that played a strategic role in a large number of wars thought the centuries, ranging from Hannibal to the 30-year war. The kings of Aragon feature in the Perillos mystery these days, but already in the 1960’s, French adventurer and writer André Malraux tried to get the building plans, specifically to get information about the subterranean waterways and chambers of the fort. According to a local of Opoul-Perillos, the wood that was used for the fort came from Perillos. The area never recovered and changed into the wasteland we know today.

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