Conques - Sainte Foy

Conques is one of the magical places, I cannot pass. Every time I am in the area, I just have to take the detour, stop and see it again.

Over centuries Conques was a popular stop for all pilgrims travelling the Via Podiensis and it still is. It is a treat after having crossed the harsh Aubrac. I still remember my feelings, when I reached Conques in 2008 on my hike, that had started weeks before in Geneva.

A tiny convent existed here already in the 8th century. This grew into a very successful monastery, after the relics of St. Foy arrived in Conques through theft in 866. The relics were stolen by a monk from Conques, who had posed as a loyal monk in Agen for years.

The arrival of the relics of St. Foy caused the pilgrimage route to shift to Conques. As the existing church was too small for all the pilgrims, a new, much larger church had to be constructed. It was completed by the end of the 11th century. As a large pilgrim´s church, it had an ambulatory with five radiating chapels. A century later galleries were added over the aisle and the roof was raised over the transept and choir to allow people to circulate at the gallery level.

Different masons and carvers have worked in Conques over the building process, so here are different Romanesque styles.

At the former cloister, the icons get more secular.

The bricklayer in front puts in the last stone, his colleague on the left signals loudly with his horn that this is the end of the workday.