Hidden Staircase in Church Leads to 400-Year-Old Burial Vault
Rare coins, rosary beads, human remains found inside coffins from hundreds of years ago.
Archaeologists have unveiled a 400-year-old burial vault after following a long-lost staircase.
The staircase was found in the Church of Saint Philibert in Dijon, France.
The Romanesque church dates back to the second half of the 12th century, according to the French National Institute for Preventative Archaeological Research (Inrap).
"In the transept, a vault, probably from the 15th-16th centuries, has been identified. In it, the deceased, children and adults, are buried in coffins, the bones of each individual being pushed to the sides to make room for the last deceased," said an Inrap press release.
The deceased consisted of mostly adults dressed in shrouds placed in wooden coffins.
"Very few objects were found in the tombs apart from rare coins and two rosaries," added the press release.
Archaeology crews with Inrap found that the foundation of the vault measures about 9 feet in depth, and slab tombs that were discovered date from the 11th through 13th centuries.
Six sarcophagi were also unearthed.
St. Philibert is the only Romanesque from the 12th century church left in Dijon, according to The Institutional Repository for the University of Notre Dame (CurateND).
"During the Revolution, the church was abandoned in 1795. It was given to the city which razed the two chapels and apse of the church to expand the present Rue des Vieilles-Ovens in 1825," according to research posted on CurateND.
St. Philibert is open to the public on select dates for Heritage Days.
By Ashley J. DiMella.
