Sandbox

Introduction

This weblog is kind of my sandbox in my head. I have a lot of interests. Items regarding history, archeaology, GPS/GIS, ham radio, Grail Legends, geneaology, animals, books, ....   Anything is fair game in this weblog.

Janice

Rosslyn- Scotland

I've been reading a lot of books about the Grail Legend, the Knights Templar, the Masons, and the bloodline of Jesus. I'm also taking classes in Geographic Information Systems. I'd like to collect GPS coordinates for the famous sites mentioned in these books and maybe plot them in a GIS system. Actual digital photos of these places would be nice also to allow the photo to pop-up when the computer mouse hovers over the plotted site. For example I have found  GPS coordinates from a geocache left at Rosslyn Chapel.

per Geocaching.com, the coordinates are in the WGS84 Datum.

N 55° 51.238 W 003° 09.612
British Grid: NT 27467 62911
translated by jeEep.com

	Latitude	Longitude
DMS	55°51'14.28" N	3°9'36.72" W
MinDec	55°51.23802	-3°9.612
DegDec	55.853967	-3.1602
Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)
Zone	Easting (meters)	Northing (meters)
30	489971	6189838

Coordinates are not inside conterminous 48 States, no NAD-27 data provided.
See description of Rosslyn Chapel Site at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosslyn_Chapel

Rosslyn Pictures

http://img.groundspeak.com/cache/6c5aa072-c39d-46fc-884e-51d8a9df2461.jpg

http://img.groundspeak.com/cache/88dc0d31-6d58-4da8-b0e0-a4d1871acf72.jpg

http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=decimal&latitude=55.853967&longitude=-3.1602

Update: February 23, 2008 - GPS coordinates from Wikipedia.

55° 51′ 19″ N, 3° 9′ 29″ W	Decimal	55.855278°, -3.158056°

The Languedoc - France

Another area discussed much in books relating to the Knights Templar and the descendants of Jesus, is the Languedoc area of France. I found these GPS coordinates on the geocaching web site mentioned in the previous post. It is at least in the Languedoc-Roussillon area northeast of Narbonne.  To my knowledge this actual spot is not related to any particular Knight Templar site. I will need to investigate further. I wanted to at least provide one set of coordinates from this area. It's located on the beach of the Mediterranean Sea.

per geocaching.com, coordinates are in the WGS84 datum.

N 43° 13.926 E 003° 16.005
UTM: 31T E 521660 N 4786624

	Latitude	Longitude
DMS	43°13'55.56" N	3°16'0.3" E
MinDec	43°13.926	3°16.004999
DegDec	43.2321	3.26675
Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)
Zone	Easting (meters)	Northing (meters)
31	521660	4786624

Coordinates are not inside conterminous 48 States, no NAD-27 data provided

Map of Languedoc Coast area

Some Links for reference

Knights Templar and Rosslyn Chapel 

The Rosslyn Templars Web Site

Prieure de Sion - The Treasure of Rennes-le- Chateau

Chronicles of the Holy Grail -Official Laurence Gardner web site

The Secret of Rennes-le-Chateau

Montsegur France

Montsegur Castle, France. Also in the Languedoc area. The Cathars lived in the Languedoc until they were wiped out.

from the editorial review on Amazon.com of the book 'Montsegur and the Mystery of the Cathars' by Jean Markale, Jon Graham

"On March 16, 1244, over 200 Cathars were captured in their fortress stronghold of Montsegur and were burned alive by troops of the Inquisition. While some Cathar enclaves survived into the next century, this was the death blow to a religion that had been a powerful symbol of Occitain sovereignty against the designs of the French monarchy and the papacy. History has recorded that four high-ranking Cathar perfecti carried a great treasure out of Montsegur the night before its fall, a fact that led rebel Huguenots of the 17th century and members of Hitler's S.S. to believe that an enormous treasure or weapon of awesome spiritual power lay hidden somewhere nearby the ruins of the former Cathar stronghold. "

This GPS location is right next to the castle wall. 300 m from the parking lot.

Coordinates on this site are shown in WGS84 datum.

N 42° 52.535 E 001° 50.014
UTM: 31T E 404733 N 4747658
or convert to NAD27 at Jeeep.com

	Latitude	Longitude
DMS	42°52'32.09" N	1°50'0.84" E
MinDec	42°52.53498	1°50.014019
DegDec	42.875583	1.833567
Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)
Zone	Easting (meters)	Northing (meters)
31	404733	4747658

Coordinates are not inside conterminous 48 States, no NAD-27 data provided

MapQuest-Montsegur France

A photo from the parking lot.

http://img.groundspeak.com/cache/88084_200.jpg

The cache at the wall of the castle.

http://img.groundspeak.com/cache/88084_300.jpg

Santiago de Compostela

This GPS location is actually at El Pico Sacro - Santiago de Compostela. Santiago de Compostela is a sacred site for the Knights Templar.

"In the early 9th century, in a forest called Libredón, the remains of St. James were found according to the tradition. Soon after the discovery of a tomb, the Episcopal see settled in Iria (Padrón) was transferred to Compostela. The fact that the sepulchre was found is the reason why the city was built.
During the 10th century the small town began to consolidate as a demographic, administrative and exchange centre.
In the following centuries, 11th and 12th, an important urban development took place. In this period, thanks to peregrination to the sanctuary, to its commercial control on the lands of the coast and the several constructions carried out under the orders of different bishops, the town consolidates its expansion and its domain.
In the early 12th century, with this religious, political and cultural splendour, they began to build the central nave of the cathedral. In this period the bishop Xelmírez got the Episcopal 'Cadeira' from Rome and was actively involved in the development of the town. " continue reading

From 'Sacred Site of the Knights Templar' by John K. Young, Ph.D.

'..Pilgrimages to Santiago were first organized by monks of the French congregation of Cluny. The second church at Santiago in turn was destroyed by the Moorish general Almanzor, who confiscated its doors and church bells...  a new cathedral, dedicated by Pope Urban II in A.D. 1105. Thenceforth, Santiago was put under the supervision of a Benedictine order of French monks, who also supervised the pilgrimage routes leading through southern France. In 1164, the military and religious order of St. James of the Sword was founded, much like the Knights Templar, to protect the pilgrimage road leading to Santiago.'

'....A twentieth century archeological excavation has confirmed the great age of the tomb, which has now been incorporated into the cathedral of Santiago. Originally, the tomb was located in a Roman cemetery besides the principal north-south road of Galicia, constructed perhaps as early as A.D. 100. Behind the tomb is a massive Roman wall later used by builders as part of the cathedral.'

Saint James Organization

N42° 48.458 W 008° 26.913
UTM: 29T E 545087 N 4739600
or convert to NAD27 at Jeeep.com

	Latitude	Longitude
DMS	42°48'27.47" N	8°26'54.78" W
MinDec	42°48.45798	-8°26.913
DegDec	42.807633	-8.44855
Universal Transverse Mercator (UTM)
Zone	Easting (meters)	Northing (meters)
29	545087	4739600

Coordinates are not inside conterminous 48 States, no NAD-27 data provided.

The parking lot: http://img.groundspeak.com/cache/21d722eb-243f-4d08-8656-badda56222b1.jpg

The cache site: http://img.groundspeak.com/cache/b1c55691-a875-44fc-a16b-0f00dfd82b58.jpg

The pilgrimage routes to
Santiago de Compostela

The Camino Frances from St.-Jean-Pied-de-Port to Santiago de Compostela
(769 km = 480 miles)

See http://www.santiago-compostela.com/ for more information.

Check out this site for information on traveling the "Way of St. James" via horseback. http://www.elcaminoacaballo.com/paginamarcosingles.html

GPS Waypoints for the Camino

I was searching the web for information of Santiago de Compostela and found this site that has waypoints that can be loaded into a person's GPS unit before they start the long trek along the Camino.

http://www.gpstm.com/eng/album_eng.htm

It also has a free software package called GPS Track Maker. The GPS track and photos can be saved. The saved track is compatible with ArcView and many other software programs.

Here is a sample of what the collected points for the Santiago walk found at the above website. The track has too many waypoints to show the entire map created by GPS TrackMaker. Clicking on one of the waypoints and then on an icon for the internet brings up a map of the area. Mapquest need to be programmed into GPS Track Maker to make this work correctly.  I zoomed in ont a piece of the track and captured the section below that shows points along the way. They might be sightseeing points, hostel locations or places to eat. etc.... You should be able to find a map background that covers the route of the Santiago de Compostela and have these points plot out. I believe they are in WGS84 datum.

The Man in the Iron Mask

Ever read Alexander Dumas' "The Man in the Iron Mask"?. Seen either version of the movie with Richard Chamberlain or Leonardo DeCaprio?

Per "Mysteries of Templar Treasue & the Holy Grail- The Secrets of Rennes-le-Chateau", by Lionel & Patricia Fanthorpe. Weiser Books, 1992 page 126:

The man in the iron mask could have been a real figure in history. What could this prisoner have to do with Rennes-le-Chateau? Rules of imprisonment: No one except St. Mars, King Louis XIV's trusted agent and prison governor, was to speak to the masked man, or to listen to anything he might try to say. If they did, he was to be executed immediately. The masked man was treated with great respect and courtesy as if he was of royal blood, or at least of very high rank. This is a very dangerous prisoner to someone. But did he have a secret that somebody wanted? It is suggested that Minister Nicolas Fouquet was the person with the secret. ( Fouquet is a character in Dumas' book). Was the secret related to ultimate weapons, the secret of transmutations or the Elixir of Life?  If Fouqhet was this man, then the secret he withheld from Louis may have been linked to the secret of Rennes-le-Chateau. Others believe the secrets of the Cathars, the troubadours, the Templars, the Alchemists and the Rosicrucians came into the hands of the Freemasons.

  See this page for more discussion of the Man In the Iron Mask.            

Walking the Languedoc- France

Found this site for a walking itinerary for the Cathar Castles in the Languedoc area of France. Scroll down to the blue title bar with "The Cathar Castles" written on it. This would be a great trip I think. If anyone goes, please take a GPS and record the walk. Then post or email the info to me. I would greatly appreciate it.

Mythomorph Blog

I found this weblog by Jeff Nisbet. He writes articles for Atlantis Rising as well as other periodicals. He is currently working on a book about the Templars.

Check out his interesting articles on this site.