Since the 1950s, treasure seekers and conspiracy theorists have been looking for lost valuable treasure in the small village of Rennes-Le-Chateau in southern France. Just recently, vandals were caught digging holes underneath The Saint Mary Magdalene church seeking lost loot. Supposedly “the former priest Abbé Bérenger Saunière, who went from rags to riches, is rumoured to have interred a trove of gold coins and jewels before taking the secret of their whereabouts to his grave.”
However, over the decades no one has really discovered anything of value. Skulls and bones are about all that has been found! Still, people continue to search for treasure. Not only does rumor have it that this small village is full of pots of gold but also religious relics such as the ark of the covenant, the holy grail and the body of Jesus Christ.
In the 1970s, the mayor of the village ordered the abbé’s body dug up and relocated due to the mass destruction of his grave by the treasure hunters.
Most historians have concluded that all of this talk of treasure never existed and that Saunière raised money through criminal means; many have concluded the old tale was made up.