Scientists Discover Mysterious Vault Under Saint Philibert Church in Dijon. It Has Been Sealed For 400 Years
They say curiosity has its way of taking a person off track, only to uncover something completely new; at least that’s the case in the Saint Philibert Church in Dijon. Deep within the city, scientists have discovered a burial vault that was sealed for almost 400 years. The church is a historical landmark dating back to the 12th century, and over the years, it has taken on many shapes and forms. A routine check in the restoration process led the team of researchers to find a new world at the bottom of a mysterious staircase.
The Mystery of the Hidden Staircase
The church had, through the years, taken in some damage due to the numerous renovations that attempted to ‘fix’ the place. The Saint-Philibert Church originally stood tall in a Romanesque style, which was done to mirror the Romans in style, at least. The French Revolution saw the church being disestablished, and it was then used for various purposes over the years, even becoming a salt storehouse at one point in the 20th century. The restoration in 1974, an attempt to remedy the changes to the building, ended up worsening the condition even further. A heated concrete slab was laid, which drew up moisture and the existing salt traces to cause significant damage. The archaeologists from the National Institute for Preventive Archaeological Research (INRAP), in the process of understanding the deteriorating condition of the church, excavated the slab. It opened a stairway into another world, in this case literally.
The Elusive Vault
At the end of the staircase, they found a burial vault that dates back to the 15th or 16th century. It was the final resting place for several deceased, children and adults alike. The researchers suspect the people found in the vault might have been affected by a historical event, like a pandemic or famine. According to INRAP, the deceased were buried following the burial customs of that period, but their remains were moved to make space for other bodies that quickly filled up the space. “In the transept, a vault, probably dating from the 15th to 16th centuries, has been identified. In it, the deceased, both children and adults, are buried in coffins, the bones of each individual being pushed to the sides to make room for the last deceased,” the press release notes.
The Vault and Its Future
An accidental shift of a slab peeled back years of history, and the researchers were firsthand able to see the past in that vault. This was not the end of the discoveries made during that investigation, slab tombs from the 11th to 13th century and even sarcophagi from the 6th century were unearthed. The excavation and analysis are still ongoing; the researchers plan to dig deeper to another three meters in depth the report from Daily Galaxy notes. But for now, as they go, they are documenting each layer of history and living the rare opportunity to see relics of the past in their stillness.