Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy

The Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy in 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, Sélestat. The Conques abbey opened a priory next to the shrine in Sélestat. 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. Beginning in the 13th century, the abbey began to fall into decline as Saint Faith's popularity was elipsed by that of other saints and due to Conques' marginal location. The abbey was confiscated from the Benedictine order in 1537 by order of the Bishop of Rodez, Georges d'Armagnac, and given to a chapter of regular canons. In 1568, during the Wars of Religion, the Protestants seized Conques and burnt down much of the abbey, including parts of the church, most notably the original towers. The abbey experienced a brief revival in the 17th century, however, further destruction occurred due to the Revolution and the subsequent banishment of the canons, resulting in quarrying the buildings by the then-impoverished villagers. Thanks to the work of individuals such as Prosper Mérimée and Étienne Boissonnade, the building was saved, restored (including the construction of the current towers), and returned to the Premonstratensians who sent monks from Mondaye Abbey. Today, the church remains a functional parish and pilgrimage church while also hosting choral and organ services. The abbey church has been classified as a national monument of France (French: monument historique classé) since 1840.

The original monastery building at Conques was an eighth-century oratory built by monks fleeing the Saracens in Spain. The original chapel was destroyed in the eleventh century in order to facilitate the creation of a much larger church as the arrival of the relics of Sainte-Foy caused the pilgrimage route to shift from Agen to Conques. 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. 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. The exterior length of the church is 59 metres (193 ft 7 in). The interior length is 56 metres (183 ft 9 in), and the width of each transept is 14.80 metres (48 ft 7 in). The height of the crossing tower is 26.40 metres (86 ft 7 in) tall.

Church data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).