VEZZOLANO — The Redeemer among the symbols of the Evangelists; the Adoration of the Magi with the patron accompanied by an angel and the appearance of the three skeletons to Charlemagne. 14th-century frescoes in the cloister of the abbey.
The monastic buildings, partly demolished as early as 1760, were sold; Prosper Mérimée in 1835 proposed their restoration, approved in 1837, and from 1840 the architect Viollet-le-Duc began the repair of the church. In 1870 a relic of St Mary Magdalene donated to V. marked the beginning of new pilgrimages. The western façade was partly modified in the 12th century and partly by Viollet-le-Duc’s restoration. It has three portals; in the tympanum of the central one is Christ between the symbols of the four Evangelists, then the Last Judgment; on the architrave, episodes from the Magdalene’s life; in the vault, angels. Above, around, and on the windows are statues. The narthex is composed of large piers with columns and historiated capitals depicting scenes from the Old and New Testaments and the lives of saints. Around it, in eight compartments, are depicted the various peoples to whom the apostolic mission would be directed; then the signs of the zodiac and the labors of the months. In the right portal are scenes from the Savior’s infancy, in the left portal episodes following His resurrection. The interior of the basilica has three naves, the central one very high with ten bays; the capitals are historiated with scenes from the Old Testament and episodes from the lives of saints interspersed with mythological and human scenes. The choir is Gothic; in the ambulatory five chapels open; beneath the choir is the crypt; in the south transept one passes to the chapter house.
In the village of Saint-Père-sous-Vézelay is a Gothic church preceded by a two-bay portico of the 14th century with a central portal on which the Last Judgment is carved; in the portico are also represented the two founding spouses, further on a tomb dated 1258; in a portal now walled up is the Crucifixion. The interior of the church has ribbed vaults, with an ambulatory opening into chapels; in the high bell tower at the four corners are four angels.