写真

Conques, France, was a popular stop for pilgrims traveling the Way of St. James to Santiago de Compostela, in what is now Spain. The main draw for medieval pilgrims at Conques were the remains of Sainte-Foy, a young woman martyred during the fourth century. The relics of Sainte-Foy arrived in Conques through theft in 866. After unsuccessful attempts to acquire the relics of Saint Vincent of Saragossa and then the relics of St. Vincent Pompejac in Agen, the abbey authorities set their sights on the relics of Sainte-Foy at the ancient St. Faith's Church, S駘estat.The Conques abbey opened a priory next to the shrine in S駘estat. A monk from Conques posed as a loyal monk in Agen for nearly a decade in order to get close enough to the relics to steal them.

Architecture
The original monastery building at Conques was an eighth-century oratory built by monks fleeing the Saracens in Spain.[2] The original chapel was destroyed in the eleventh century in order to facilitate the creation of a much larger church[3] as the arrival of the relics of Sainte-Foy caused the pilgrimage route to shift from Agen to Conques.[2] The second phase of construction, which was completed by the end of the 11th century, included the building of the five radiating chapels, the ambulatory with a lower roof, the choir without the gallery and the nave without the galleries.The third phase of construction, which was completed early in the twelfth-century, was inspired by the churches of Toulouse and Santiago de Compostela. Like most pilgrimage churches Conques is a basilica plan that has been modified into a cruciform plan.[4] 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. The western aisle was also added to allow for increased pilgrim traffic.[5] The exterior length of the church is 59 meters. The interior length is 56 meters. the width of each transept is 4 meters. The height of the crossing tower is 26.40 meters tall.

The church UNESCO World Heritage Site's

There are 2 photos in WS.
One is the location of the village photographed from above,
The other is the main fa軋de of the church, in backlight (unfortunately)