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THE ENVIRONMENT

Nature and history seem to have agreed to join forces in giving birth to Conques, a masterpiece filled with an incomparable evocative power, located to the north of the former Rouergue region, now the department of Aveyron. Few sites in France or even in Europe pride themselves on sheltering such an amount of treasures: the Romanesque abbey-church and its famous tympanum of the Last Judgement, the cloisters with their central fountain made of serpentine, the Treasure showing the goldsmith's art, the museum and finally the village itself, all spring out like a memory of lost centuries. All these elements are set in an exceptional natural site, shaped like a "conque", a shell (concha in Latin, conca in Occitan), chosen by the hermit Dadon, who retired here during the 8th century.

Conques The Lot, the Dourdou rivers and their tributaries are witnesses of the rejuvenation of the peneplains from the Primary Era. These rivers are nestled inside a wavy table of schistose and granitic rocks. They open up a network of deep and convolute valleys. The gorges deeply cut by the Ouche torrent flowing into the Dourdou at an angle, widen slightly and outline some sort of a cirque, which indents the horizontal plateau. This depression and its escarpments and outcrops are outlined by the dark spots of the chestnut trees. They generate a landscape full of severity and majesty. Many travellers are struck by the wild aspect of Conques' environment, as it was for the writer Prosper Mérimée in 1837, then inspector for the Historical Monuments. He admitted not being prepared to find so many treasures in such a remote place. Yet, these natural surroundings were originally well chosen and presented many climatic advantages. The abbey and the town were set on the sunny slopes, sheltered from the northern winds, perched high enough to escape humidity and the thick fog ascending from the valley. The numerous springs provided the water necessary to sustain life.

Around Conques, different points of view invite the visitor to discover the site from different angles:
- from the Bancarel site in the South, the visitor may admire the village, house by house,
- from the vineyards in the North, the plunging views offer various observation points of the abbey and the shaly silvery roofs of the village.
- from Guillebastre hamlet in the East, overhanging the Ouche torrent, gorges open onto a wide panorama looking towards Conques.
- in the West, from the winding trails past the medieval bridge used by the Compostela pilgrims, you will find the most spectacular observation points of the site and its surroundings.

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