The mysterious inscription of Notre-Dame cathedral in Vaison-la-Romaine
And also
The tops
Latin, first
We can see a Latin sentence, below the nave’s cornice: we don’t know what it is…
The text says:
Obsecro vos, fratres, aquilonis vincite partes Sectantes claustrum, quia sic venietis ad austrum. Trifida quadrifidum memoret succendere nidum ignea bissenis lapidum sit ut addita venis. Pax huic domui.
″Brothers, fight against the aquilon and come in the cloister, and you’ll be next to the auster. The 4 parts nest will be invaded by a flaming peace, arriving by the 12 veins of the stone.″
Explanations
Famous French writer Stendhal wrote in his novel Mémoires d'un touriste (part I): this sentence was an advice, to warn monks about the climate’s rigour, about the wind’s strong blow.
To explain where was the best place in cathedral or in the cloister to enjoy the sun’s heat in summer...
Famous historian Prosper Mérimée had the same idea, when he wrote the following translation in his book Notes d'un voyage dans le midi de la France: monks had to bear the cold wind from the North, in winter.
If they wanted to escape from the cold, they had to take shelter to the South, in the Cloister.
They had to find their own interior flame (by praying) in order to warm their cells up...