There are countless myths concerning Saint Sulpice Cathedral, many of the most recent coming directly out of The DaVinci Code. The two most interesting and two most vehemently denied being firstly that the church was built on the site of an ancient pagan temple, the second, that the golden line running through the church is a meridian marking a perfect north-south axis and that, before it was moved to Greenwich, it was the time zone mean line.

The reality is slightly less blockbuster movie inspiring, but still very romantic. Victor Hugo was married here. The Marquis de Sade and Charles Baudelaire were baptized here. The cathedral’s gnomon (a sundial of sorts) plots the yearly equinoxes and solstices. A scientific achievement well before it’s time. Although St Sulpice doesn’t house the mysteries of the Priory of Scion, some of its mysteries may still be mysteries.