PLAN and STRUCTURE

The density of the crowds and their circulation determined how the abbey was constructed. The side-aisles boarding the nave were meant to direct the pilgrims towards the ambulatory. Its half-circled structure surrounds the choir, where the Majesty of Saint Foy and other reliquaries were exhibited to the people. The quite important widths of the nave and transept were necessary in order to shelter hundreds of worshipers, allowing them to observe the priest facing the master altar during the office. This altar was located under the cupola, at the crossing of the two main perpendicular lines. Additionally, in case of exceptional attendance, people might have used the vast tribunes pierced by twin archways. To the East, the seven chapels, opened into the ambulatory and the crossing would multiply the amount of secondary altars, allowing simultaneous celebration of mass by the priests.

In its main aspects, this cross plan with radiating chapels falls into the category of churches named "pilgrimage churches", such as the Saint-Sernin basilica in Toulouse. Among them, Saint-Foy church nevertheless retains its character. For the most part, its unique characteristics are the result of natural elements, which the master planners had to deal with. The location chosen by the hermit was ideal for meditation, but of a lesser advantage for the future raising of an abbey and a church of such importance. Sustaining walls had to be built to the north, in order to prevent landslides, and to the south, to hold the earth platform for the present cloister. As a consequence, as observed nowadays from Place Chirac, the church seems buried into a huge ditch when, from the opposite side, its massive structure dominates the cloister, itself perched above the ravine. The available area for the construction was then minimal. Moreover, the Plô fountain location and its underground reservoir, right under the church square, prevented any western extension of the building.

These various elements dictated by the topography explain the extremely compact church plan. Here, the apse has a lesser depth and is flanked by three chapels, instead of five according to the standard plan. The nave is quite short (20.70m) compared with the transept (35m). In order to compensate for the reduced surface, the building was most developed in its height. Here stands its originality. Saint-Sernin in Toulouse is double Saint-Foy in its total length, but has a slightly lower central vault.

The same ratio can be seen outside, on the high façade, which has the austerity of a fortress, partly softened by polychromatic stone rosettes. From the sides, nothing alters the vertical lines of the buttresses as they rise towards the roof. Going around the building, the apse suddenly appears with its magnificent pyramidal elevation. Here, one can observe three different levels built with splendid cut stones, as an outside mirror of the inside structure.