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The Saunière Society takes pride in the various symposia which it has held at different venues in the United Kingdom. The speakers featured at the symposia are television producers, writers, scholars, and researchers in history, religion and occult matters spanning time and the human experience. Several of the symposia speakers, such as Henry Lincoln, are world renowned in their fields. All seek the TRUTH in their fields of inquiry, believing that with the surfacing of new evidence there may be legitimate alternatives to conventional thought. While the mysteries of Rennes-le-Chateau serve as the focus of the Society's research, the search for TRUTH has many paths to other questions begging for an answer.
Four symposia were held during 1999 at three locations in the United Kingdom. The Saunière Society chooses it venues with care, seeking to blend atmosphere with the best possible conferencing facility. Three venues were chosen for the 1999 symposia. Our February and May symposia were held at the Templar Lodge Hotel in Gullane, near Edinburgh on the Firth of Forth. The hotel was originally a twelfth century fortified house, and with its ancient stonework, Georgian paneling and Templar décor, provides the perfect atmosphere for our symposia. A one-day symposium was held in London in September at Conway Hall. In October, we switched venues to Newbattle Abbey, the sixteenth-century residence of the Marquesses of Lothian. Southeast of Edinburgh near the town of Dalkieth, the abbey is surrounded with over 100 acres of garden and woodlands on the banks of the Esk. The house, which incorporates remnants of the thirteenth -century Cistercian Abbey which formerly occupied the site, is noted for its seventeenth-century woodwork, plaster ceilings and drawing room which is used for the symposium.
The two venues in Scotland for the February, May and October symposia are in close proximity to several Templar landmarks. Nearby is the village of Temple and the remains of Ballentradoch, the first Templar commandery in Scotland. Also in the neighborhood is Rosslyn Chapel renowned for its stone carvings with Masonic, Templar and spiritual themes covering virtually all religious beliefs. Visits to these sights are arranged for Society members both before and after the symposia.
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