Narrator: Natural light is one of the most important features in any architectural design.

Light shapes surfaces, creates contrast, and guides the gaze through space.

Along with stone and wood, it plays an essential role in all buildings.

In religious architecture, light takes on a symbolic role and facilitates contact with the sacred.

Since time immemorial, it has been incorporated into churches to represent the link between the human and the divine.

Three places in France illustrate this symbolic link in an exemplary manner -- the Roman Basilica of Vézelay, the Cathedral of Metz, which is a Gothic masterpiece, and the chapel of Notre-Dame du Haut in Ronchamp, designed by architect Le Corbusier.

Spanning the period of the Middle Ages to the 20th century, these monuments reflect the architectural styles and technical advances of their era.

Whether through stained glass, a well of light, or an illuminated path, the light in each church has been staged in a truly outstanding way.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Perched on a Burgundy hilltop, the Basilica of Vézelay has been a pilgrimage hot spot since the Middle Ages.

The church, which was built in the 12th century, is one of the major starting points for the way of St.

James.

The construction of the basilica was entirely planned around light in order to prompt a spiritual experience, in which the idea of a personal journey is key.

♪♪ ♪♪ [ Man speaking French ] ♪♪ [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Man speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Hecquet speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Diez speaking French ] ♪♪ Narrator: Inside the basilica, the construction of the Gothic choir transformed the perception of space forever.

Here, the light becomes inseparable from the sacred architecture of its surroundings.

♪♪ From the 13th century, Gothic architecture reached its pinnacle in Lorraine, with the construction of Metz Cathedral.

With its 6,500 square meters of glass, it features Europe's largest surface area of stained-glass windows.

This has earned it the nickname "The Lantern of God."

It's 42-meter-high vault makes it France's second-highest cathedral.

♪♪ [ Speaking German ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Speaking German ] ♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: The cathedral took nearly 300 years to build.

Over these three centuries, building techniques evolved considerably.

The architects were able to open the walls, allowing for vast stained-glass windows to be incorporated and marking a very clean break from the Roman style.

♪♪ [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ [ Man speaking French ] [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: At Ronchamp, a former mining village in the foothills of the Vosges mountains, inhabitants have always worshiped the Virgin Mary.

Protective and maternal, the Virgin was a key figure for the local men who ventured down into the depths of the mine on a daily basis.

Located on a hilltop, the chapel dedicated to Mary dominates the landscape.

The chapel was destroyed during the Second World War, and one of the most innovative architects of his era was called upon to build it up again, Le Corbusier.

It was the first time he had designed a sacred building.

With Le Corbusier's radical and inventive architecture, light took on a new meaning.

♪♪ [ Woman speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Gaillard speaking French ] ♪♪ [ Birds chirping ] ♪♪ [ Woman speaking French ] ♪♪ [ Speaking French ] [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: The nuns' search for inner light at the chapel of Ronchamp finds its echo in the Basilica of Vézelay.

Here, a community of monks shares the same personal quest for the divine, punctuated by the rhythm of the seasons.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Man speaking French ] ♪♪ [ Speaking French ] [ Bird squawking ] ♪♪ [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Speaking French ] [ Choir singing ] ♪♪ [ Brother Gregoire speaking French ] [ Singing continues ] ♪♪ [ Brother Gregoire speaking French ] [ Singing continues ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Choir singing ] ♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: In stark contrast, the basilica's crypt, with its total absence of light, strongly evokes the shadows of death.

It houses the relics of St.

Mary Magdalene.

The Roman frescoes symbolically recount her discovery of Christ's resurrection.

[ Brother Gregoire speaking French ] ♪♪ Narrator: For Christians, the resurrection is the sign God sent to man of life after death, an inaccessible mystery which, throughout time, builders of sacred architecture have sought to express through light.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ In Metz Cathedral, the art of the Gothic stained- glass window reached its summit.

Stained-glass windows told the stories of the Bible to the faithful, like a gigantic comic strip.

But they also afforded communion with the sacred through the rays of sun that filtered through the glass surfaces, flooding the cathedral in colored light.

♪♪ ♪♪ [ Man speaking French ] [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Man speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: Like a lighthouse calling pilgrims from afar, the chapel designed by Le Corbusier sits atop the hill overlooking Ronchamp.

Symbolically, it indicates the four cardinal points around it.

Light lends grace and airiness to the building, while underscoring its concrete volumes, a technical feat that Le Corbusier used for the first time in Ronchamp.

♪♪ [ Gaillard speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Man speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Sister Brigitte speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: Connecting humans to the cosmos via light lay at the heart of Le Corbusier's artistic vision here, and the perpetual movement of the surrounding nature is an integral part of this vision.

In Vézelay, the basilica was designed in such a way as to use the rays of the sun to underscore the religious message.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Brother Gregoire speaking French ] ♪♪ Narrator: During the summer solstice, when the sun is at its highest point, pilgrims flock here to experience a spectacular phenomenon that occurs in the basilica.

[ Hecquet speaking French ] [ Speaking French ] [ Diez speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Hecquet speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: In Metz Cathedral, 700 years of stained-glass-window art bear witness to the evolution of artistic trends over time.

After the destruction of part of the stained-glass windows during the Second World War, contemporary artists were called upon to replace them.

Their works take up the original sacred themes, but they also translate the violence and complexity of their era.

[ Speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ [ Deremble speaking French ] ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Narrator: Le Corbusier designed the chapel of Ronchamp as a place of prayer and meditation.

Overriding confessional issues, his avant-garde creation takes a spiritual approach.

♪♪ [ Virot speaking French ] [ Sister Brigitte speaking French ] [ Virot speaking French ] ♪♪ [ Sister Brigitte speaking French ] [ Virot speaking French ] ♪♪ [ Birds chirping ] Narrator: In order to conclude their inner journey, orchestrated by Le Corbusier in the chapel, visitors must return to the light of day in nature, where rebirth takes place.

The door symbolizes the image of the resurrection in the Bible.

The tombstone opens, and there is a flood of light.

♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪♪ Throughout the centuries, light has played a key role in sacred architecture.

Each builder, each architect, each artist has used the illusive feature of light in their own way.

In Vézelay, natural light acts as a guide and a metaphor of divine light.

It leads pilgrims from darkness to revelation.

In Metz, light bathes the faithful in images.

The human and the divine converge in a complex, 700-year-old conversation.

In the chapel of Ronchamp, light is not forced upon the visitor.

Le Corbusier sets the stage for a metaphysical space in which light caresses every surface.

It's up to the visitor to freely discover the church, coming face-to-face with their own spirituality.

These three sacred architectural sites express the emotional and spiritual power of light.

For each period, the way light has been framed provides valuable insight into the relationship between man and the divine.

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