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Rennes-le-Château (Rènnas del Castèl in Occitan) is a small commune approximately 5 km (3 miles) south of Couiza, in the Aude department in Languedoc in southern France. This small French hilltop village is known internationally, and receives tens of thousands of visitors per year, for being at the center of various conspiracy theories, and for being the location of an alleged buried treasure discovered by its 19th-century priest Bérenger Saunière, the precise nature of which is disputed by those who believe in its existence, because of the sheer diversity of conflicting theories.〔Article by Christiane Amiel entitled "L’abîme au trésor, ou l’or fantôme de Rennes-le-Château" in, Claudie Voisenat (editor), ''Imaginaires archéologiques'', pages 61-86 (Ethnologie de la France, Number 22, Paris: Éditions de la Maison des sciences de l’homme, 2008). ISBN 978-2-7351-1210-4〕 ==History== Mountains frame both ends of the region—the Cevennes to the northeast and the Pyrenees to the south. The area is known for beautiful scenery, with jagged ridges, deep river canyons and rocky limestone plateaus, with large caves underneath. Like many European villages, Rennes-le-Château has a complex history. It is the site of a prehistoric encampment, and later a Roman colony (or at least Roman villa or temple, such as is confirmed to have been built at Fa, west of Couiza); being part of the Roman province of Gallia Narbonensis, the wealthiest part of Roman Gaul. Rennes-le-Château was part of Septimania during the 6th and 7th centuries. It has been claimed that it was once an important Visigothic town with some 30,000 people living in the city in around 500-600 AD.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Rennes-le-Chateau visit, photos, travel info and hotels, by Provence Beyond )〕 However, British archaeologist of some repute, Bill Putnam (died in 2008) and British physicist John Edwin Wood argue that while there may have been a Visigothic town on the site of the present village, "but with a population closer to 300 than 30,000".〔Bill Putnam & John Edwin Wood, ''The Treasure of Rennes-Le-Chateau: A Mystery Solved'', Sutton Publishing, page 87, Revised Edition, 2005. ISBN 0-7509-4216-9.〕 By 1050 the Counts of Toulouse held control over the area, involving a rapid increase of castles in the area, including the existence of a castle in Rennes-le-Château by around 1002,〔Abbé Sabarthès, ''Dictionnaire topographique du Département de l'Aude, comprenant les noms de lieux anciens et modernes'' (1912).〕 though nothing remains above ground of this medieval structure—the present ruin is from the 17th or 18th century.〔Bill Putnam, John Edwin Wood. ''The Treasure of Rennes-le-Château: A Mystery Solved'', page 88 (Sutton Publishing Limited, revised paperback edition, 2005). ISBN 0-7509-4216-9〕 Several castles situated in the surrounding region in the Languedoc were central to the battle between the Catholic church and the Cathars at the beginning of the 13th century. Other castles guarded the volatile border with Spain. Whole communities were wiped out during the campaigns of the Catholic authorities to rid the area of the Cathar heretics during the Albigensian Crusades and again when French Protestants fought against the French monarchy two centuries before the French Revolution. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Rennes-le-Château」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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