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For Aachen Cathedral Treasury aachen-tourismus.de
on carved capitals inside the building.
We take it in turns to visit. For the one on ‘dog duty’, artisan shops and galleries in the main street are good to browse and, from the garden and large terrace at the basilica’s rear, there are panoramic views of the surrounding countryside.
The nearby village of Saint-Père, with its Gothic church, nestles at the foot of Vézelay’s hill.
With no stained glass, the basilica’s white stone interior has a purity and sense of space. Sacred geometry is thought to have been included in its design.
At noon on the summer solstice, light from the upper windows meets in the centre of the nave, forming pools of light leading to the altar. Like overhead three-dimensional story books, the capitals on each pillar depict biblical and mythological scenes.
A figure holds a weighing balance, gruesome devils attack a pious man and an angel captures a devil while another greets a saint.
The most famous capital, the Mystic Mill, shows Moses pouring grain (Old Testament Law) into a mill (Christ). The flour (New Testament) is gathered by St Paul.
I go down into the crypt where the relics of Mary Magdalene are kept. There is a special, intangible energy down there which makes my hands and arms tingle. I sit there a while in the silence. For me, it’s not the relics that have the power, it’s the place itself which draws me back.