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In one of the dungeons in the Synodal Palace, under the Salle de l'Officialité (ecclesiastical court), stand a Bishop and a Knight Templar.
They have been there for more than 600 years, motionless. Their fixed stares were carved into the wall's dark surface by a poor wretch,
incarcerated long enough to engrave his line drawing deeply into the stone.
A ticket office initially provides entry to a barrel vaulted cell, leading into a second which in turn leads into a third.
The first cell, very narrow and totally without daylight, was not intended to house a prisoner,
but a trap door let into its cobblestones indicates the existence of a particularly dreadful underground dungeon.
It is square room, where no light penetrates and where a chimney-hole provides the only ventilation. The only furniture, a latrine in a corner.
Access to this permanently dark dungeon was by ladder or rope - it was impossible to escape from it.
As if fearing an attempt to pierce the wall, wide iron bands criss-cross the inner walls, from the palace cellar side, barding all the stones
together with armour into a single, unassailable mass. This living grave is mentioned in accounts passed down to us under the name of "Rollet".
The second cell, barrel-vaulted like the first, is also very narrow. A tiny window opens where the vault begins and lets a few timid
rays of light through. The third, far larger cell with ribbed vaults has a narrow window high up with a slanting stone shutter giving an
equally feeble light. Is this the cell called "La Gillette" in the accounts?
Finally comes a fourth dungeon laid out in identical fashion which appears to have housed a large number of prisoners.
It is reached through a arrow lobby with a door opening into the room. Here again there is virtually no daylight.
A stone hood masks the breathing-hole opening onto the Archbishop's courtyard, letting through reflected light only.
In the half-light the prisoners could only keep an eye onthe opening above them in the west wall.
Behind this opening was a small chamber used for spying on the inmates unbeknownst to them and becoming party to dangerous secrets
that they no doubt shared with each other.
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(Source: Sens, Town of Art and History. Monseigneur René Forrey)
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Take a look at the animated slide shows on the Cathedral in the "History" section.
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