Rennes-le-Château Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids

Rennes-le-Château

Tour Magdala

Coat of arms

Rennes-le-Château

Location in France

Rennes-le-Château

Location in Occitanie

Country

La Haute-Vallée de l'Aude

Limouxin

Area

14.68 km² (5.67 sq mi)

Population

(Jan. 2021)

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• Summer (DST)

INSEE/Postal code

11309 /11190

Elevation

272–568 m (892–1,864 ft)
(avg. 435 m or 1,427 ft)

¹ French Land Register data, which excludes lakes, ponds, glaciers > 1 km² (0.386 sq mi or 247 acres) and river estuaries.

Rennes-le-Château is a commune of 80 people (2017). It is in the region Occitanie in the Aude department in the south of France.

Images for kids

The château in the village, once in the possession of the Hautpoul family. The present building dates from the 17th or 18th century.
Visit of Socialist candidate François Mitterrand to Rennes-le-Château in the 1981 presidential campaign
Church of Saint Mary Magdalene
A Pediment decorated with a Memento mori Skull and crossbones figure above the entrance to the churchyard
Altar of Saint Mary Magdalene, it features a bas-relief of Mary Magdalene. At the bottom of the altar a Latin inscription (once lost, now restored), reads: Jesu medela vulnerum Spes una poenitentium Per Magdalenae lacrymas Peccata nostra diluas, that translates as "Jesus, remedy against all our pains, The only hope for the penitent, Through the tears of Magdalen Thou washest away our sins"
Tympanum of Saint Mary Magdalene
Latin inscription quoting Genesis 28:17 Terribilis est locus iste ("This place is terrible") above the church entrance
The Holy Water Stoup, surmounted by four Angels and featuring the inscription By that sign you shall overcome him and below, two Basilisks topped by the BS monogram
The figure of the demon Asmodeus supporting the Holy Water Stoup.
A Relief Fresco of the Sermon on the Mount
The Statue of Saint Roch set up between the tenth and the eleventh Stations of the Cross
The Statue of Sainte Germaine set up between the fourth and the fifth Stations of the Cross