in the center of france, the major starting point was the church of mary magdalene at vezelay.his great romanesque abbey church at vezelay in the heart of burgundy is built far too large for the needs of its local population. paul crossley is a distinguished architectural historian whose special interest is romanesque and gothic architecture. it served primarily two functions. it housed a large and prosperous community of benedictine monks, and secondly and most importantly, it was one of the foremost places of pilgrimage in france, for here was contained the relics of saint mary magdalene. thousands of pilgrims came through the western portals of this church, and they found themselves in a sacred way... a long avenue of arches and aisles which led them to the distant and luminous choir where the body of saint mary magdalene was contained. to the dout mediev christian, holy relic had the power to perform miracles. even the tiest fragment of the body of a snt encased in its riqry rapresented the power, the presence of the saint. much of the art of the time was geared to the cult

himself, he hung a picture of his best friend, thomas jefferson, and next to it a portrait of mary magdalene. now, family tradition in the madison family is that that portrait was a gift to madison from thomas jefferson. i long thought that madison hung it next to jefferson's portrait to poke a little fun at his chose friend. but you also see some other features of this room that impressed visitors. the bust. these are the notable people of american history from george washington to the marquis de lafayette. it was a functional room here. they tea here. they welcome their guests. as i said, they had many visitors. and while every visitor had access to this room and would be welcomed by madison or dolley or another member of the family, madison also used this room to control all of that public interest and to give himself some privacy. because unless you knew him or had a letter of introduction, you really wouldn't see any more of the house than this room. you'd be welcomed here very graciously. you might be served some punch, and then you'd be on your way. so, you only went beyond this room