THE OAK ISLAND COMPENDIUM IS PROUD TO PRESENT THIS EXCLUSIVE EXTRA FROM THE NEW BEST-SELLING BOOK, “THE JERUSALEM FILES” BY CORJAN MOL AND CHRISTOPHER MORFORD. THIS STORY EXPLAINS THE DETAILS BEHIND THE MAN WHO WAS INVOLVED WITH AN ALIGNMENT THAT BEGINS IN JERUSALEM, RUNNING THROUGH VERSAILLES, AND THEN ON TOWARDS OAK ISLAND. WITHOUT FURTHER ADO, “THE WATCHFUL GARDENER”.
André LeNôtre – Wikimedia Commons
“A shred of secret history lies hidden in one of Paris’ most fashionable areas. Tucked away between the high fashion stores of Hermes, Valentino and Saint-Laurent lies the rather dull façade of one of the city’s largest churches. Most luxury shoppers and tourists pass it without giving it any thought. However, the church of Saint Roch in the Rue Saint-Honoré, is well worthy of attention. The building has a long, colorful history as well as tight bonds with the Royal House of France and their Republican and Imperial successors after the French Revolution. The 15-year-old Sun King Louis XIV of France laid the first stone in 1653. The 26-year-old Napoleon Bonaparte fought French royalist troops on its steps, a century-and-a-half later. The bullet holes from the event are still clearly visible.
Wikimedia Commons
The church of Saint Roch in Paris, on the Rue Saint-Honoré, lies close to the Palais Royal and what used to be the Palace of the Tuileries, now destroyed. Both palaces were prominent residences for French royals, their families and courtiers. The church was a special place for the Royal House of France, and they frequently visited it. Kings Louis XV and Louis XVI would watch religious ceremonies here with their queens from two invisible lodges, hidden high up to the left and right of the altar, accessible only using a secret staircase in the walls. The churchgoers wouldn’t have known their king and queen were attending. The caretakers of the church whisper of a secret tunnel that led into the crypt under the church from the Palais Royal, providing unseen access for the royal audience who would come all the way from Versailles to attend mass here. Queen Marie-Antoinette’s silver crucifix is still waiting for her in the church’s sacristie. She wasn’t allowed to collect it on her way to the guillotine.
Wikimedia Commons
Once you enter the doors of Saint Roch, a vast space opens up, beautifully decorated with paintings, statues and stained glass. To be buried here was a rare honor, extended to only few. Marie Anne de Bourbon, the love and beloved child of the young King Louis XIV and his first mistress Louise de La Vallière was laid to rest here. So were the playwright Pierre Corneille and the philosopher Diderot.
André LeNôtre – Corjan Mol and Christopher Morford
Perhaps most notably, this church is the last resting place of France’s most famous gardener André LeNôtre. Already a legend in his own time, LeNôtre defined the French garden. His designs were all about harmony and creating lines of sight that would emphasize the best features of the landscape, elongating views and broadening horizons. His greatest legacy are the gardens of the Palace of Versailles, in which he redefined vastness and applied his skill on a scale not seen before and rarely since. In the 39 years of their cooperation, this modest, methodical gardener became a friend and trusted adviser to the highly ambitious builder King Louis XIV, 25 years his junior. With the Sun King on his side, LeNôtre deployed thousands of workers, forever transforming the landscape, realizing the grand vision of his young master to translate the glory of France into the biggest royal domain on the planet.
The Curse of Oak Island – The History Channel
The Château of Versailles and its gardens span 2,200 acres around a 3-mile-long central axis at the heart of the estate. Yet, it seems Louis XIV’s plan was greater still. In the first years of his adult reign, he gathered a team around him of Europe’s best scientists. Astronomers, mathematicians, engineers and cartographers combined their knowledge and skills to help lay out the gardens of his domain. When it was finished in 1685, the ground plan had the shape of a giant 7-armed menorah, formed like the sacred lampstand fashioned by Moses according to the bible. Made from one solid block of gold, the man-size Jewish menorah, a candelabra with seven oil lamps, was placed in the First Temple of Jerusalem by the legendary King Solomon around 957 BC. On a clear day, if one flies over Versailles, the shape of the giant menorah is still clearly visible on the landscape from the sky. Once you have seen it, you can never unsee it again.
Three avenues form its perfect 60-degree tripod, leading up to the front gate of the domain, branching out into 7 paths further down the central axis. But was this really the Sun King’s intended shape for his garden? There might be a clue in the angle and direction of the Château’s central axis. This 4-kilometer-long lane, or should we say, 4-kilometer-tall central stem of the menorah, points to Jerusalem. If one would leave the Château’s main gate and kept walking in a straight line, one would walk straight to Temple Mount, where King Solomon originally installed the menorah in the First Temple. It is an alignment with eerie precision. Is it a coincidence that the world’s biggest menorah points at the original menorah’s historical location in Jerusalem? There are no known records in the archives that directly support this theory, but it appears a further secret clue is hidden in the church of Saint Roch in Paris.
Corjan Mol and Christopher Morford
Enter a church and its statues will face you. Not so in Saint Roch. André LeNôtre, the Sun King’s gardener died in 1700 and was buried inside the church. Most of his tomb was destroyed during the French Revolution but fortunately his bust remains. It was created by renowned sculptor Antoine Coysevox, with the instruction to turn LeNôtre’s head slightly to the right at an angle. As a result, André LeNôtre’s eyes face away from the viewer and are fixed on a spot in the back of the church. The king’s gardener, the man who spent his life creating ideal lines of sight and who appears to be co-responsible for hiding a giant menorah in plain sight at Versailles, is forever staring at two life-size replicas of the menorah and the ark of the covenant.”
Corjan Mol & Christopher Morford
THE COMPENDIUM WOULD LIKE TO THANK CORJAN AND CHRISTOPHER FOR ALLOWING US TO BRING YOU THIS SPECIAL STORY. PLEASE VISIT OUR RECOMMENDED BOOKS SECTION OF OUR WEBSITE FOR A LINK TO PURCHASE “THE JERUSALEM FILES”. WE HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK FOR ANY FAN OF OAK ISLAND AND HISTORY. PLEASE JOIN US THIS TUESDAY, MARCH 5, FOR THE FINAL PART OF OUR SERIES, “THE MYSTERY OF THE 90 FOOT STONE”.
Good day from the Compendium!
Comentários