You are now entering an unknown world. A particular land, which has its own unique place in history. A history which has not yet been uncovered. Legends roam the realm of Oc. Archeologists and historians are unable to prove that the legends are just mere legends. The earth of the Languedoc was sacred to the Celts. Many stone circles and dolmen are quiet witnesses of their respect for the land. Some areas are called "Val de Dieu" or "Terre de Dieu" (valley or land of God).

Today, scholars speculate on the presence of Egyptian culture in the Languedoc in Celtic times, well over 3000 years ago. The Languedoc was also discovered by Greeks and Phoenicians who were always looking for a new place to colonize. In their footsteps came the Romans, who founded Narbonne and are responsible for the first hardened road of Gaul. From turbulent Palestine, more and more Jews sought refuge in the Languedoc, founded a colony here and introduced the vine culture. In the Languedoc everyone was relatively safe and life was good.

In the mean time, old religions like the Sol-Invictus or Sulis-Minerva and Isis/Artemis cults were very popular. The name Gaul refers to the cock, a symbol of the sun as it greets the sun every morning. The esoteric knowledge and wisdom which was given by the ancients to the Egyptians and then to the Jewish people was kept safe here. Even today, archeologists unearth ancient suntemples. Even the Knights Templar were involved in the suncult. Two Lords of Carcassonne from the Trencavel Family had the middle name "Aton", an Egyptian diety from the 18th Dynasty of Achnaton, the Pharao of the Sun. In this fascinating period in history, many aspects of the Jews originated, such as the Ten Commandments, the Ark of the Covenant and the reunion of their faith in only one God. Mozes had learned much of this ancient knowledge, when he was still living at the Egyptian royal court. This knowledge would give him and Aaron, who was the High Priest of Heliopolis at the time, the strength and power which was needed to materialize the Exodus.

So, when the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem in the 12th century, the new order of the Knights Templar searched the Temple mount and found relics, treasures and knowledge of the old kings of Juda. From that moment on a new era of cathedral building and architecture was introduced: the Gothic style. Many strange constructions were copies of star systems or pentagrams. This, however, was also done in a more ancient period of human history, for instance at Giza and Ankhor. The Knights Templar discovered ancient sea routes, which enabled them to discover new territory, among which Nova Scotia (New Scotland), centuries before Columbus is known to discover America. And even he sailed with the red Templar cross on his sail.

They were clearly in the possession of important knowledge from the ancients, from civilizations which existed before the last ice-age and flourished, as Graham Hancock has been able to show in his impressive research of the Lost Civilizations. The Templars found the knowledge of measure, weight and number, of orientation points all over the world, of the stars and of the true history of the first century. The history which was kept a secret by the roman catholic church. The real story of Jesus and Mary Magdalene.

And thus the Knights Templar became a threat to the roman catholic church.

In medieval Languedoc, one of the richest countries in Europe and also one of the safest, the kings of the Visigoths and Merovingians ruled the land. They were in legend the Grail kings. Tales about King Arthur spread quickly and the Troubadours sang of courtly love. Chivalry was invented. But this wonderful era would not last long.

The Knights Templar, who were very rich, wanted to live here in the Languedoc. This would have become their home base, free from the rule by kings or popes. They obeyed no one. Both king and pope would not tolerate this any longer. On Friday 13th 1307 the Templars were arrested and the Order liquidated. Their leaders were even burned at the stake. The only place left for the Templars to exist was Scotland, while in other countries the Order simply changed its name, e.g. in the Knights of Christ in Portugal. Many of their possessions were hidden in caves, sealed church vaults or shipped to Nova Scotia in their last hours before the arrest. Only one man was perhaps able to find at least a small part of their treasure. This man is the charismatic abbot Saunière of Rennes-le-Chateau, who suddenly became very rich at the end of the 19th century, after he had opened the vaults beneath the village church of La Madeleine (Mary Magdalene) in order to restore the church. No one knows exactly what he really found.

Another theory tells of documents and the story of Mary Magdalene, who came to the Languedoc in the 1st century AD (44 or 45 AD). She may have taken with her several items, on which the world still speculates today. Was it the Holy Grail, ancient knowledge, a green stone cup (jade?), the children of Jesus (the Grail bloodline) or all of this? We may never find out exactly.

Other religious groups which were not tolerated in the rest of Europe, like the Cathars, flourished in the Languedoc. They did not believe that Jesus died on the cross, did not need a church and certainly no dogma. This was the cause of their dreadful fate, because it lead to one of the bloodiest episodes in history. Apart from the crusades to the Holy Land, there was another crusade, the Albigenzian crusade. Peaceful, loving and hardworking people who merely had a different faith, were tortured and burned alive. To be absolutely sure that no Cathar would escape the flames, the Dominican Order and the pope created an institution to cause so much fear, that people would betray their own parents or neighbours. The Holy Inquisition. However, not all Cathars were killed. Many fled to the mountains, e.g. the Montagne Noire and went underground. Catharism became an underground movement. Did these people possess holy relics, the knowledge of the Magdala, did they protect the Grail bloodline? And how can we trace all this in modern day Languedoc?

Cathar castles are all over the land. Holy water places and other sanctuaries remind us of Artemis, Isis and the Magdala (or Black Madonna). Esotheric orders such as the Freemasons and Rosicrucians leave mysterious symbols in churches and on gravestones. Medieval painters include secret codes in their paintings which are only visible to the initiated (solis sacerdotibus). A parchment arrives in Paris which proves that Jesus was still alive in 45 AD. And it vanished without a trace...

Many books are written about the Enigma of Rennes-le-Chateau in which authors speculate on Templar gold, the true story of the 1st century, a tomb in which the remains of Jesus rest, and little by little we discover pieces of the puzzle hidden by the church of Rome. The image which is now becoming clearer everyday, reveals that the legends are no legends at all. They are hidden pieces of true history. The mysterious history of the Languedoc.