Conques
The community Conques ( Occitan Conca ) with 269 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2011) located in the French region of Midi -Pyrenees in the department of Aveyron and is the capital of the canton of the same name. The town lies on the GR 65, which is largely the historical course of the French pilgrimage route " Via Podiensis " follows.
Les plus beaux by the Association villages de France Conques was declared one of the most beautiful villages in France.
Geography and transport
Conques is located in the southwestern area of the Massif Central, on the banks of the river Dourdou where the river empties into the Ouche Dourdou. The Dourdou is a left tributary of the Lot and ends at Grand- Vabre in these. The next major French cities are Lyon ( 231 km) to the northeast, Toulouse ( 134 km) in the south-west, Bordeaux (238 km ) to the west and Montpellier ( 161 km) to the southeast.
The nearest commercial airport is Rodez - Marcillac, which is served, including the Air France and Ryanair. It is located about 32 kilometers by road south-east and is accessible via Route Departmental D 901, which intersects in Conques with the D 42. The nearest train station is located in Rodez.
History
The origins of the abbey of Conques go back to the hermit monk Dadon, who settled in the inaccessible valley of the Lot on the steep slopes of the Ouche. Around him other monks, who led their community from 819 according to the Rule of Saint Benedict gathered. The Carolingian Louis the Pious placed the monastery under his special protection, and gave him the name of Conques (shell ). Since the 8th century and is located in Conques a collection of goldsmith's work. The reliquary of the Holy Faith (French: Sainte -Foy ) is the best known.
The Holy Faith, the daughter of a respected citizen of Agen, was sentenced in 303 at the age of 13 years to death because they refused to worship the pagan gods. This makes them one of the first French martyrs was. Virginity associated with their youth increased public worship. It soon spread the legend of a miraculous healing of a blind boy by the Holy Faith. Through a so-called secret transfer ( ie theft) reached the reliquary from Agen to Conques. The arrival of the miraculous relic in Conques and the discovery of the tomb of the Apostle James in northwestern Spain and the so inserting pilgrims, it is thanks to them that Conques was able to increase its meaning continuously. In the 11th to 13th centuries Conques is an important step on the road to Santiago de Compostela. In the 13th century, the abbey at the height of its economic power, which is followed by the slow decline in the 14th and 15th centuries, until the secularization means the end of the Abbey on 22 December 1424.
To the monastery, the medieval town that lived mainly with and from the monastery and the services for the pilgrims developed.
Although the Hundred Years War and the French Revolution left their mark, it is the resident since 1873 Prämonstratenserchorherren managed in cooperation with the French monument protection authorities, to maintain the facility in substantial parts.
Way of St. James ( Via Podiensis )
Already the Codex calisetinus advised the pilgrims to choose the way over Conques and make station in Sainte -Foy Abbey. Today, there are in addition to several pilgrims' hostels and hotels and a campsite. The nearest major town on the Camino de Santiago is Decazeville and a few kilometers further Livinhac -le-Haut in the Lot Valley. There the path leads through the valley of Dourdou on the undulating plateau to the Lot Valley. Between the wooded hills to meadows and small hamlets find. Besides the possibility to follow the GR 65, there is the slightly shorter, historical variant on Noailhac. However, it mainly operates in the department of la - streets. As a road link there is the D 91, which leads to the Dourdou along the Lot valley, from where one of the D 42 and D 627 can further follow up Livinhac -le-Haut. Alternatively, there is the D232 and then the D606, which leads across the plateau after Livinhac -le-Haut.
Attractions
- The Romanesque Abbey Church of Sainte -Foy and her small museum are among the highlights of the cultural history of southern France.
- The pilgrims bridge over the Dourdou
The abbey and the bridge of the pilgrims are awarded as part of world heritage by UNESCO " Camino de Santiago in France."