Conques is a little village in the area of Aveyron, Midi-Pyrenees and a jewel of Romanesque art…
Conques is a significant location on the pilgrim’s road to Santiago de Compostela and a listed UNESCO World heritage site.
The village has preserved its old roadways flanked with timber wood houses, Romanesque fountains, the old town gateway and the remains of its fortifications with architecture dating back to as far as the 11th and 12th Centuries. The ancient Abbey church of Sainte-Foy has a silverware treasure trove considered one of the largest of Medieval Christianity, and includes an extraordinary collection of reliquaries with its famous Tympanum of the Last Judgement (depicting 124 figures) and housing more than 250 sculpted columns.
Pilgrims descend on the town in their thousands to this day as well as numerous walkers drawn by the beauty of the area and the historic trails.
To get a wonderful view over the town, from the centre of Conques, take rue Charlemagne on the GR65, go through the porte du Barry, one of the town’s three gateways, and descend. At the bottom, you arrive at the magnificent “Roman” bridge. Continue along the path, climb towards chapelle Sainte-Foy and you will have a magnificent vista over the town. Here tradition has it that each pilgrim rings the bell and if they are lucky they will hear the reply from the monks in Conques.
Every summer, the sounds of the Festival de musique de Conques (Conques Music Festival) can be heard at Sainte-Foy Abbey Church.
Read about our visit to Conques, Aveyron
How to get to Conques:
Nearest Airport: Rodex-Aveyron Airport (35km from Conques)
By train from Paris: Nearest train station is Saint-Christophe-Vallon (Line Paris-Rodez, 23 km from Conques). Connection : Shuttle service or Taxi (we advise you book in advance, you can find details on the Conques tourist office website below).
There are buses and other train stations in the area, see the Conques tourist office website (below) for details.
