Photo : Mommeja / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0)
Conques
Conques is a village in Aveyron, now a deleted commune of Conques-en-Rouergue, and carries the label Les Plus Beaux Villages de France. It grew up around a monastery founded in the ninth century. Between 864 and 875, a monk named Ariviscus brought the relics of Saint Foy from Agen, which attracted many pilgrims and made Conques a great sanctuary of the Middle Ages. In 1341, the town already had about 3,000 inhabitants.
The Romanesque abbey church of Sainte-Foy was built in the eleventh and twelfth centuries. It is best known for its sculpted tympanum. The abbey also preserves a goldwork treasure, some pieces of which date from the Carolingian period. The abbey church and the bridge over the Dourdou have been UNESCO World Heritage since 1998, as part of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela.
Conques is a stage on the Via Podiensis, one of the routes to Compostela; the pilgrimage guide of Aimery Picaud, in the twelfth century, already recommends venerating the relics of Saint Foy there. The village and the neighbouring gorges have also been a listed site since 2021.
