The cloister, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful in southern France, was erected at the end of the 11th century by Abbot Begon III, below the southern part of the church transept. Unfortunately, due to lack of maintenance, it mostly disappeared during the early 19th century. The cloisters served as a quarry for the residents. Prosper Mérimée arrived a few years too late to save it.
The only rescued structures were, on the east side, two small arches opening into the former Chapter House and, on the opposite side, the six twin-bays allowing communication between the western cloister gallery and the monks refectory. The works realised in 1972 by the Historical Monuments ended up with the restitution of the cloister area. Under a thick layer of dirt, fragments of the pavement and the foundations of the coped wall, supporting the inside arcades, were exposed. With this discovery, the rebuilding of three galleries in their outlines, out of the four original ones, became possible.
The building sheltering the Treasure stands on what used to be the lost gallery. The remodelled pavement and rebuilt coped wall suggest well the original plan of the Romanesque cloister, whose consecration took place around the year 1100, as indicated in a recently discovered engraved lintel.
The cloister area seems rather small (28x26 m) compared with its contemporaries, such as the one in Moissac (39x37 m). In Conques, the main difficulty faced by the builders was the lack of space. Yet, the monument demonstrates an ambitious program, both in its architecture and its sculpture. Close to thirty capitals from the lost arcades are now exhibited, either in the former refectory in front of the entrance to the Treasure, or in the lapidary room, in the Joseph-Fau Museum basement. They all relate to each other by the use of a light grey limestone, coming from a Causse Comtal quarry, a particular type of material that doesn't reappear elsewhere. On the capitals' baskets and abacuses, as well as animal and angelic themes, a world of monk-builders, warriors, acrobats and monkey trainers all invite the visitor to bring this early 12th century society back to life.
Finally, the large cloister fountain has been reconstructed and restored with its original elements. This basin, made with a dark-green serpentine, a top quality stone, with the magnificence of its rhythm and sculpted decor, yet without its missing central bronze basin, still represents a monument second to none in all monastic art.
