In Search of Holy Treasure

Since the mid-fourteenth century. a long piece of linen has been the object of an ongoing controversy. On it, we can see the image of a man with all the markings of the crucifixion. For the devout, it is the authentic shroud of Christ. For skeptics, this relic is merely an icon produced by some genius, a medieval con artist.

In 2003, Dan Brown published "The DaVinci Code". Through mystical clues, the author leads the reader on a sort of treasure hunt, in search of the mysterious Holy Grail. As a matter of fact, we learn that the word Holy Grail does not mean the cup used by Christ at the Last Supper, but rather a genealogical line traced from Jesus and Mary Magdalene's union. Occult reality or literary fantasy?

In 2007, Canadian documentary producer Simcha Jacobovici pompously announced, alongside prestigious director James Cameron, that he had found the ossuaries of Jesus. Since then, this archaeological discovery, announced as one of the most important of all time, has literally been forgotten.

Visitors to Hofburg Palace (Vienna) can admire an extraordinary relic; a richly decorated point of a lance. The object is believed to be the point of the lance of Longinus, a Roman legionnaire who pierced the side of Jesus. It is told that, since it was stained with the blood of the Savior, the lance has gained mysterious power, making its owner invincible.

In the Cathedral of the Holy Cross of Jerusalem in Rome, a little piece of wood is preserved in a magnificent silver reliquary. Apparently, it is a fragment of a sign with the word "Nazarene" written in Hebrew, Greek and Latin. Is it possible that this relic is a piece of the sign places over Jesus' head while crucified?

The great cathedral of San Salvador in Oviedo (Spain) houses an extraordinary relic, revered since the ninth century. It's a veil, soiled with reddish stains, which seem to be blood. Are the stains that cover the Oviedo veil really made with the blood of Christ?

On the first Friday of every month at the Notre Dame de Paris Cathedral, a pageant of priests walk down the central aisle. Leading the procession is an ecclesiastic holding a golden cushion on which rests a crystal reliquary containing a crown of thorns. If legend holds true, this relic would have been brought to France in 1239 by Saint Louis, King of France.

No church in Latin America attracts as many pilgrims as the Basilica of Santa Maria de Guadalupe, in Mexico. Among the treasures of the basilica is a tilma, similar to a sleeveless coat previously worn by the Indians of Central America. The tilma of Guadalupe is very special: it displays a miraculous image of the Virgin Mary just as she appeared to Juan Diego, a Mexican peasant, in 1531.

Is the story of the flood mere myth, as geologists claim, os is it historical reality? And what about the story of Noah? Does material evidence exist to support this extraordinary adventure? For decades now, adventurers have been gathering on the slopes of Mount Ararat (Turkey) hoping to discover vestiges of the Ark.

In 1152, the Benedictine monks of St. Denis (north of Paris), undertook major restoration works at the Argenteuil monastery. While piercing one of the surrounding walls, they discovered a passage leading beneath the building. There, in a cellar forgotten for 200 years, they discovered an ivory chest containing a neatly folded tunic; said to be the tunic of Christ.

Few biblical objects have fascinated treasure hunters as much as the Ark of the Covenant, the gold chest built by the Israelites according to God's instruction and destined to carry "the tables of law". When Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, the Ark went missing. Some claim it may be secretly preserved in a small church, Our Lady Mary of Zion, At Axum, Ethiopia.

Three times a year, the faithful of Naples congregate on the esplanade in front of the Cathedral of Santa Chiara. Hoping to witness a miracle, the priests remove a monstrance from its reliquary. Within it is a vial, a third fill of a blackish, solid substance. It is claimed that this is the coagulated blood of St. Januarius, the patron saint of the city, decapitated as a martyr in 305 A.D.

Follow researcher Christian Page in his quest to unveil the history of the Holy Relics of Christianity as he travels through time in some of the greatest cities of the world: Jerusalem, Istanbul, Paris, Vienna and Rome. Without the dedication of some historical figures and also unknown devotees these Holy Treasures may have never made their way into the modern world.