Walking the Camino de Santiago
Among the many small shrines in the Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy in Conques, there is a statue of Saint Thomas Becket, one of my favourite saints. Finding a statue of him here was a surprise. The nearby sign includes a quote from a letter he wrote to a Bishop named Gilbert. The Image is below in the bonus slot, and […]
» Read more
Walking through the ambulatory in the Abbey of Sainte-Foy in Conques, you find the shrine of the saint’s relics directly behind the high altar. The stained glass image behind the metal grill is a 21st-century image based on her bejeweled 11th-century reliquary, which itself is usually kept in the nearby museum. I’m including a bonus photo of the stained glass […]
» Read more
After Mass—which was beautiful—I set about exploring the abbey church. The architecture is just stunning, as I hope this look up over the sanctuary shows. While I’m not a fan of the modern ambo and main altar, they do fit in with the fabric of the place. The icon on the left is Sainte-Foy. The shrine of her relics is […]
» Read more
In addition to holding the relics of Sainte-Foy and therefore being a site of pilgrimage in itself, Conques is the first major religious site on the pilgrimage route from Le Puy-en-Velay to Santiago de Compostela. Of course there is a small shrine to Saint James the Apostle in his depiction as a pilgrim (Santiago Peregrino / Saint-Jacques Pèlerin). While this […]
» Read more
As I briefly explored the abbey church before Mass, I visited the chapel of Sainte-Foy. During my research into the route, I had come to love this little saint. She was a 2nd-century child martyr, and her relics have been held in this church (and its smaller predecessors) since the 9th century. The relics are not, however, in this chapel […]
» Read more
I stepped into the abbey church of Sainte-Foy, still wearing my pack. After the quick morning pace and that last steep descent, my legs felt like rubber. Nevertheless, when I stepped into the church, with monks preparing the church for Mass and people already starting to gather, all of the aches and fatigue faded into nothing. Here’s what I later […]
» Read more
This is the entrance of the abbey church of Sainte-Foy. I arrived about a half hour before the Sunday Mass. I was pretty tired from the fast pace I’d done most of the morning – so much so that I barely registered that some of the original polychrome was still visible on the tympanum. I did, however, notice the little […]
» Read more
The Way down into Conques was a knee-jarringly steep descent on asphalt road, a rude side path, stairs, and finally, dirt and stones. The stones were slick with last night’s rain, so there was no choice but to move slowly and carefully. Finally, I emerged from the woods onto the outskirts of the fairy-tale medieval village. It was still downhill, […]
» Read more
I reached this sign at about 10 AM. It might not be much to look at, and the translation might be a bit wonky, but when I spotted this roadside sign announcing that Sainte-Foy welcomed me to Conques. I was actually quite touched by it. At this point, I was about thirty minutes from the village proper of Conques. Date: […]
» Read more
On the way to Conques and just past the church in Saint-Marcel, I passed by this rather famous donkey. Many travel writers and pilgrims have written about this noisy beast. The writer of my guidebook, Dave Whitson, even described him as a “brilliant conversationalist“. He certainly startled me! Despite the backpack, I’m pretty sure I jumped into the air. The […]
» Read more