Abbatiale Sainte-Foy - Conques (Aveyron), France - Romanesque Architecture on Waymarking.com

[FR] L'abbatiale Sainte-Foy de Conques est un chef-d'oeuvre de l'art roman de la France méridionale.

L'église abbatiale Sainte-Foy fut construite entre les XIe et XIIe siècles. Sur sa façade se trouve le Tympan du Jugement Dernier de la même époque. Il est mis en lumière de mai à octobre lors des Nocturnes de Conques afin d'y découvrir une Polychromie revisitée.

L'intérieur de l'église abrite 250 chapiteaux romans répartis sur deux niveaux : la partie basse, et les Tribunes. Ces dernières sont accessibles dans le cadre des Nocturnes afin d'être au plus près des chapiteaux médiévaux ainsi que des vitraux contemporains de Pierre Soulages.

Par son architecture, l'église abbatiale se rattache à une série de cinq édifices dont elle constitue le prototype, Saint-Martin de Tours, Saint-Martial de Limoges, Saint-Sernin de Toulouse et Saint-Jacques-de-Compostelle, tous situés sur la route du pèlerinage de Saint-Jacques et présentant des caractéristiques communes : plan à déambulatoire et chapelles rayonnantes, transept pourvu de bas-côtés pour faciliter la circulation des pèlerins. Ces traits communs s'étendent également à l'élévation et au système de contrebutement.

[EN] The present Romanesque church construction started under the guidance of Abbot Odolric (1031-1065) on the setting of a 10th century basilica. The first campaigns of work concerned the lower parts of the apse and the minor apses, using the special red sandstone from Combret quarry in the Dourdou valley.

The Romanesque cupola of the lantern tower, built too quickly above the crossing, collapsed at an unknown date. The consolidation works carried out in the 1980s by the Historical Monuments architects allowed a better understanding of the different stages of construction, the changes and the problems.

The main weakness came from the conical vaults meant to pass principally from a square plan to a circular one. The cupola was rebuilt during the second half of the 15th century with the deliberate choice for a Gothic vaulting.

A century later, in 1568, the abbey-church almost collapsed after a blaze set by the Protestants. The big choir columns were about to collapse after the intense fire and were held in place by iron braces and contained in a sustaining wall of masonry. During this attack, the front towers were knocked off as was the central bell tower. Since then it has been rebuilt with an extra level and crowned with a framed spire giving it the present look.

From 1837, restoring the church became possible after the involvement of Prosper Mérimée. At that time, he was Inspector for the Historical Monuments. The church was then in a pitiful condition largely abandoned since the Revolution years.

His long and detailed memoir addressed to the Ministry allowed him to obtain the classification of the edifice and a necessary grant. Etienne Boissonnade, the Arts Departments architect, became responsible for the restoration works starting with the most urgent ones. In 1874, the Arts Departments ordered a complete restoration project by the architect Jean-Camille Formigé. The masterpiece to be realized was considerable: the reconstruction of the choir colonnade and vaults, etc.

Later on in 1881, the elevation of the front towers was started, closely followed by their covering with the actual heavy pyramidal stone roofs.
The density of the crowds and their circulation determined how the abbey was constructed. The side-aisles boarding the nave were meant to direct the pilgrims towards the ambulatory. Its half-circled structure surrounds the choir, where the Majesty of Saint Foy and other reliquaries were exhibited to the people.

The quite important widths of the nave and transept were necessary in order to shelter hundreds of worshippers, allowing them to observe the priest facing the master altar during the office. This altar was located under the cupola, at the crossing of the two main perpendicular lines. Additionally, in case of exceptional attendance, people might have used the vast tribunes pierced by twin archways.

To the East, the seven chapels opened into the ambulatory and the crossing would multiply the amount of secondary altars, allowing simultaneous celebration of mass by the priests.

Compared with the buildings' architectural unity and functionality, the sculpted decor is equally rich and diverse. It can be admired either in each fascinating capital, testimony of the medieval sculptors' talents and imagination, or in the extraordinary sculpted Tympanum of the Last Judgment, a masterpiece of the 12th century.

Romanesque or Pre-Romanesque: Romanesque Web site proof of Romanesque or Pre-Romanesque features: [Web Link] Date of origin: 12th century Type of building (structure): Church Architect(s) if known: Not listed Address: Not listed

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Date Logged Log   08/04/2020 seal13 visited it