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Located in the center of France, this is a mountainous region, the Massif Central, and has lots to see. It includes the following Departments: (63) Puy de Dôme - capital city of Clermont-Ferrand; (43) Haute Loire, capital city of Le Puy; (15) Cantal, capital city of Aurillac; and, (3) Allier withits capital city of Vichy. |
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Above the door on the west side of the abbey is its famous Last Judgement tympanum. There are 124 figures in the work which dates back to the 12th Century.
Here is a closer view the tympanum. Léviathan, the biblical monster, has his mouth widel open to gobble up the damned who are pushed in his mouth by a devil. The devil is look around to see the "Choosen Ones" who have escaped the ordeal. |
Fit in some time to visit Conques. The Roman abbey-church has incredible stained-glass windows, the tympanum of the Last Judgment, the cloister's vestiges with its great serpentine basin. The village appears to be one of those places frozen in time. The Abbey-Church Saint Foy is considered to be a masterpiece of roman art. Just being in the village is a treat. It is in gorge and made up of narrow lanes and timber-frame houses. The rue Charlemagne is the main street in town on which pilgrims made their way to abbey. Were visited Conques in May, but in July and August there are a series of concerts that take place in the abbey. |
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The rocky cliffs are in essence pedestals for various religous monuments. Go to the older section as there are still a good number of medieval, Gothic and Renaissance buildings to see. The Cathedral, for example, dates from the 11th and 12 Century.
