Modern-Day Pilgrims in Saint-Émilion

While we have enjoyed many wines from the Saint-Émilion region in the past, we knew very little of the fascinating history that contributed to making this small medieval village, only a few kilometres north-east of Bordeaux, such an important pilgrimage site and the centre of a thriving wine industry to this day. We joined a guided tour run by the Office de Tourisme de Bordeaux to learn more.

As part of the tour, we made a very instructive stop at the Château Balestard La Tonnelle which is owned by a family that has been making wine since 1647. Here the focus of the tour was on explaining the varieties of grapes grown in the Saint-Émilion region (Merlot, Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec), the particularity of the terroir (limestone soil, local microclimate and topography), and the strict regulations that wine makers must follow. We visited the fields to see vines up close, and our local guide showed us around the fermentation vats and the casks where wine is allowed to mature slowly.

We visited a second vineyard dedicated to organic winemaking, the Château Champion, where the focus of the visit was on how to taste and appreciate a fine wine. Tradition is strong at this property also, as it has been owned and operated by the same family since 1785.

Given that many labels bear the name “château,” we had expected to see grand houses on the estates around Saint-Émilion. In truth, the word “château” simply connotes that all the inputs to the wine are local, independently of the type of building where the wine is produced.

Today, just two hundred people live within the walls of the village of Saint-Émilion, however, back in the thirteenth century, when the town was in its heyday, over 2,500 resided there.

Pilgrimage was a big thing in the Middle Ages, when the Catholic faithful believed that they could go straight to heaven when they died if they visited one of the three main sites of Christendom: the Church of the Holy Sepulchre (Jerusalem), the tomb of St. Peter (Rome), or the tomb of St. James (Santiago de Compostella in Spain).

Along the main routes to Santiago, tradition called for pilgrims to visit sites associated with saints and to venerate their relics. As it turns out, the town of Saint- Émilion was close to two of the main French Camino routes (Camino Frances). Pilgrims made the detour through the town because it housed holy relics of St. Émilion, an eighth century hermit, and important religious monuments built by his legion of followers.

The numerous pilgrims passing through needed to be housed and fed, and this led to the growth of the town. Wars of Religion in the sixteenth century and the French Revolution led to a significant decline of Saint- Émilion’s importance as a destination for religious pilgrimage.

Today, over one million visitors come to the village for its history and to visit the surrounding wineries. The most remarkable sites are the saint’s hermitage, the catacombs, the subterranean “monolithic” church, and the Collegiate church, all of which are adjacent to each other in the centre of the old town.

The monolithic church is a huge twelfth century underground holy place (38 metres long and twelve metres high) dug in the limestone rock, surmounted by a 68-metre-high bell tower. It is the largest subterranean church in Europe.

Because the village is situated on a hillside, the upper and lower towns are connected by four narrow cobblestone paths (called tertres), dating from the twelfth century. At that time the Aquitaine region was under British rule, and the cobblestones were used as ballast on ships coming to the region to bring back cargos of wine. Saint- Émilion and seven surrounding villages were then known as the “Jurisdiction of Saint- Émilion.”

Other notable sites include the King’s tower, two ancient wash houses where people did their laundry, and a network of underground limestone quarries, some of which are used today for maturing wine. The tourist office of Saint-Émilion has a very informative website highlighting all there is to see.

In 1999, UNESCO inscribed the “Jurisdiction of Saint-Émilion” as a World Heritage Site because of the cultural significance of its wine-making expertise and the significance of its historical monuments to humanity.

We hope our short video gives you an idea of the beauty of the village and its surrounds.