Page 344 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

2 "'\
ABBAYE DE STE-FOY

! D5–6 ⌂ Aveyron £ To St-Christophe, then a bus n Pl de l’Eglise # Museum: 10am–
noon & 2–6pm daily (from 9:30am & to 6:30pm Apr–Sep) ∑ tourisme-conques.fr
The splendid Abbaye de Ste-Foy, in the village of Conques, is situated on a rugged
EXPERIENCE The Massif Central were first kept at a rival monastery in Agen, but in the 9th century a monk from
site against the leafy hillside. Ste Foy was a young girl who was killed for refusing
to participate in pagan rituals; she became an early Christian martyr. Her relics
Conques stole the relics, attracting pilgrims to this remote spot and establishing
the site as a halt on the Camino de Santiago, en route to Santiago de Compostela.

century, and are prized for both their beauty
The austerely simple Romanesque abbey
and their rarity. The undoubted highlight is the
church has beautiful modern stained-glass
windows, added by noted French artist Pierre
Soulages in 1994, and a tympanum that is a
Foy, a statue-shaped shrine containing the
triumph of medieval sculpture. The treasury
remains of the saint. Other magnif cent pieces
include an “A”-shaped reliquary, said to be a
here holds the most important collection of gold-plated wood and silver reliquary of Ste-
medieval and Renaissance gold work in gift from Charlemagne; the small but exquisite
Western Europe, some of it even made in the Pépin’s shrine from AD 1000; and a late 16th-
abbey’s own workshops. The treasures century processional cross. The precious
date from the 9th to the 19th contents of the Treasury were hidden by the
towns people to prevent their dest ruction
during the French Revolution. Perhaps
surprisingly, they were all returned.

344-345_EW_France.indd 344 30/01/2019 10:59

EW Must-see template v2.1 – 18th October 2018
Fonts: Aptifer Sans LT Pro, Posterama Text, Soho Gothic
Pro, Soho Pro, ITC Caslon 224