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Cursed Delphic Treasure in Toulouse?

lopaka

Gone But Not Forgotten
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Sep 17, 2001
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This is as much an appeal for information as it is presenting it, but I was reading a book that mentioned a legend that treasure from Ancient Greece is sunk in a lake underneath the Basilica of St. Sernin in Toulouse, France. I tried googling to explore the story further, but have come up with fairly slim pickings. (Which may be on me for not asking the right question.)

The short Wikipedia entry is borderline incoherent. As the header notes, the page does have "some issues":

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Gold_of_Tolosa

This appears to have been written by someone whose first language is not English, and it peters out at the end, but presents the story more-or-less as I originally read it:

http://southweststory.com/wp/the-hidden-gold-treasure-of-toulouse

This one is fringey, Pagan childbirth rituals and the Black Madonna there seem to be the main focus, but also alludes to the legend of the plundered gold in the lake beneath the church.

http://www.interfaithmary.net/pages/Toulouse.htm

Anyone hear about this story before? Any good, straightforward English language links? Or maybe a fluent French reader could find out something about the archeological dig this summer that the author of link #2 mentions in passing? Did it appear in a Classical Corner column in FT and I missed it? I feel like are some tantalizing bits to a great story, but it would be lovely to read a fuller version.
 
Wonderful! Never heard of it and am going to dig, hopefully not alone :)
 
I thought I'd approach it archaeologically - so I'm working my way through here :)

How is your french lopaka? I can usually get most of formal reports....
 
By far my best foreign language is German, which maybe I can read at a 2nd grade level. (Though I did manage to spend a week in Paris without ever going into the wrong bathroom once! :D )

Ahem. I have done a little more digging, and if I understand the proposed chronology, it seems unlikely the gold would still be in the lake, if it ever was in the first place. (Unless Capeio faked the robbery by depositing the loot back into the lake.) Many thanks for being willing to do some legwork, Frideswide, I'd certainly be interested in whatever you find. It still makes for a ripping yarn/legend, and who knows what the archaeologists might find?
 
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