Jeremy

The title of the building I'm studying is St. Foy which is a abbey church located in Conques, France.


 * History of this Building:**[[image:xti_1312b.jpg width="276" height="191" align="right" caption="The town Conques in France" link="http://www.sacred-destinations.com/france/conques.htm"]]

This church was built in 819 AD. The reason why this spot was picked was because it was a very secluded and was picked because of the peace that it gave to the monks when they would pray and meditate. This spot was picked out by a hermit named Dadon which would later go and start the Benedictine monks. During that year the relic of St. James was found in Spain. This caused many pilgrims to start traveling through other shrines along the way. This got other shrines fame and riches from the gifts of the pilgrims. The monks here could not bear this and plotted on stealing a relic of their own. St. Foy did have a relic though, the relic of a virgin martyred in 303 AD under DIocletian. This saint was known for her ability to cure the blind and free captives. This statue brought many pilgrims. Then In 866,a monk from Conques was sent to join a monastery in Agen with the intent on stealing their relic. He was a faithful monk and after 10 years he succeeded and stole more then one relic which he brought back to Conques. This monk brought back the saint's mortal remains, which placed inside a golden reliquary-statue. At the end of the 9th century the fame had switched from Agen to Conques, with this brought the fame the monks wanted, along with the gifts from the pilgrims. They would take jewels, and find the best gold smiths and they would touched up and enhanced The Shrine. Then In the 11th century they had to rebuild and make the abbey larger, for all the incoming pilgrims. The new construction was directed by Abbot Odolric from 1031 to 1065. and completed fully in 1120. Then the church was restored in the 19th century under Prosper Merimée who was the first Inspector of Historical Monuments, to this day this amazing church attracts pilgrims. This building uses romanesque architecture.The building contains Lots of arches. It utilizes simple masonry, with not very tall towers unlike gothic towers which are very tall. This church is massive and is very heavy looking as in romanesque architecture. The church has arched door ways and they are very simple, all but one the one door with lots of detail is the west door leading into the church. It is carved with very good detail, and it is keep in tacked with writing in and around the carvings. This scene is of the Last Judgment sculpted between 1107 and 1125 under the watch of Abbot Boniface. It has a court yard and is very pretty. This church is very beautiful and the town surrounding it are very preserved. The inside of the church very beautiful but it is very bare and simple. There are 212 columns in the cloisters, they have very nice Romanesque capitals. The capitals are very detailed and have pictures of such things as birds monsters people and other things. They did add one thing to it with in this time period, which was a stain glass window to honor the one saint to live there. This saints name was St. George of Conques and the reason why hes so important is because he was a simple monk but was know for being very holy. A cloister is a covered walk that normally has a wall on one side of it and its open on the other. The cloisters in in the abbey have mostly disappeared, but some still remain intact and those ones are the ones in the south courtyard. Along with the Cloisters being rebuilt they decided to rebuild a large serpentine basin which is a dark green. It is decorated with small people,and some faces.
 * The Outside:**
 * The Inside:**

**Structure**: This Building, like most are built like a cross. There are very important parts like the nave, narthex, transept, apse, ambulatory. To start with I want to talk about the nave which is the central part of the church building where the people gather for services. The nave in this church is very big and has been extend to accommodate all the people. Next we have the narthex which is is the west entrance and above the west entrance we have the beautiful Carvings of the Last Judgment. Next is the Transept which is the the part to the left or the right preforming the cross shape. Which In this church are very large. The apse is the tip of the church which contains the altar which you can see in the picture. The ambulatory which is where you would be walking around is blocked off In the picture.

**City Back Ground:**

The City is very beautiful and is intact and hasn't changed much. The city is located on the River Dourdou which is a small tributary. It is located in southwest France and its in a wooded gorge. The Main Part of this town is their church which is located in the center of their city. All the houses are still like they were during the medieval time which makes this town such a great place to visit.

Matthews, Kevin. "Ste.-Foy at Conques-Conques, france." __Greatbuildings.com__. 2008. Artifice, Inc. 24 Nov 2008 .
 * Work Cited**:

"Abbey of St. Foy- Conques, France." __Sacred Destiniton__. Sacred Destiniton. 24 Nov 2008 .


 * Pictures are from**:

"Abbey of St. Foy- Conques, France." __Sacred Destiniton__. Sacred Destiniton. 24 Nov 2008 .