Vézelay, village, Yonne département, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté région, north-central France. The village lies on a hill on the left bank of the Cure River. Its history is tied to its great Benedictine abbey, which was founded in the 9th century under the influence of Cluny. After the supposed remains of St. Mary Magdalene were deposited in the abbey for safekeeping from Muslim armies, vast numbers of pilgrims were attracted to the abbey, and a town of about 10,000 inhabitants was established around it. St. Bernard preached at Vézelay in 1146 before Louis VII in order to inspire the Second Crusade. The influence of the abbey declined from the late 13th century on. The abbey and the hill were collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1979.
The great abbey church of the Madeleine, which is one of the largest monastic churches in France, was started at the end of the 11th century. It was restored in the 19th century by Eugène-Emmanuel Viollet-le-Duc. Nearby, the medieval castle of Bazoches was rebuilt by French military engineer Sébastien Vauban, who is buried in the local church. The village still has most of its medieval ramparts. Pop. (1999) 492; (2014 est.) 435.