Church of Saint Foye


Church of Sainte-Foy. Conques, France. Romanesque Europe. Church: c. 1050– 1130 C.E.
  • IMPORTANT PILGRIMAGE CHURCH; PART OF A MONASTERY WHERE MONKS LIVED, PRAYED AND WORKED; ROMANESQUE; CRUCIFORM SHAPE HELPED REGULATE THE FLOW OF TRAFFIC THROUGHOUT THE CHURCH
  • Located in Conques, the Church of Saint-Foy (Saint Faith) is an important pilgrimage church on the route to Santiago de Compostela in Northern Spain
  • monks lived, prayed and worked. 
  •  As a Romanesque church, it has a barrel-vaulted nave lined with arches on the interior.
  • This scene would have served as a reminder to those entering the Church of Saint-Foy about the joys of heaven and torments of hell. 
  • It is a chaotic, disorderly scene—notice how different it looks from the right-hand side of the tympanum. There is also a small pediment in the lower register of Hell, where the Devil, just opposite to Abraham, reigns over his terrifying kingdom.
  • Each of these sinners represents a type of sin to avoid, from adultery, to arrogance, even to the misuse of church offices. Indeed, this portal was not only a warning for pilgrims, but for the clergy who lived in Conques as well.

Reliquary of Saint Foy: ninth century C.E., with later additions. Stone (architecture); stone and paint (tympanum); gold, silver, gemstones, and enamel over wood (reliquary).


  • The reliquary at Conques held the remains of Saint Foy, a young Christian convert living in Roman-occupied France during the second century. At the age of twelve, she was condemned to die for her refusal to sacrifice to pagan gods, she is therefore revered as a martyr, as someone who dies for their faith. Saint Foy was a very popular saint in Southern France and her relic was extremely important to the church; bringing pilgrims and wealth to the small, isolated town of Conques.
  •  her dress is covered with agates, amethysts, crystals, carnelians, emeralds, garnets, hematite, jade, onyx, opals, pearls, rubies, sapphires, topazes, antique cameos and intaglios.
  • The Church of Saint Foy at Conques provides an excellent example of Romanesque art and architecture. Although the monastery no longer survives, the church and treasury stand as a reminder of the rituals of medieval faith, especially for pilgrims. 
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