Page 345 - (DK Eyewitness) Travel Guide - France

Must See

GREAT VIEW
Vista of
the Village
The Chapelle St Roch,
on a rocky spur just
outside the village,
provides one of the
finest panoramas of
Ste Foy and the sur­
rounding houses with
their distinctive lauze
(flagstone) roof tiles.
1 2
1 The reliquary of Ste Foy,
studded with gems and rock
crystal, is over 1,000 years old
and known for miracle cures.
2 This sculpture from the
early 12th century depicts the
Last Judgment, with the Devil
in Hell in the lower part of the
sculpture and Christ in Heaven
in the central position.
3 Pure and elegantly simple,
the Romanesque interior dates
from 1050–1135. The lovely
nave has three tiers of arches. 3

THE ROAD TO
COMPOSTELA
Did You Know? In the Middle Ages
millions of Christians
pilgrims trekked to
On summer evenings Santiago de Compostela
you can visit the (p406) to pay homage
abbey’s upper gallery at the shrine of St James
and see the intricate (Santiago). The route,
carvings up close. a series of connected
ways, took them across
the country into Spain.
The pilgrims would
stay in simple shelters
or mon asteries like
Conques, and would
return with a scallop
shell as a souvenir.
The route is still
popular today and
makes a great trek, as
it takes in some of the
finest landscapes in
southern Europe.

The splendid Abbaye de
Ste­Foy rising up above
the village of Conques
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