GUIDED TOURS & DIGITAL TOUR

The Service Patrimoine guides you through the history of Conques:

Discover St. Foy abbey-church and its tympanum;
reach its upper-gallery to admire the Romanesque capitals and the stained-glass windows by Pierre Soulages;
wander through the streets of the medieval village.
This offer is conditional for English tours.

    ST. FOY ABBEY-CHURCH AND ITS TYMPANUM OF THE LAST JUDGMENT

    Discover the architectural wonder of St. Foy abbey-church and the 124 figures that adorn its tympanum. Your guide will unveil all their mysteries. Raise your eyes towards a few hundred capitals and contemporary stained-glass windows... This tour is an essential visit to approach Conques and its thousand-year-old history.

    English tours: conditional offer (please contact us for more details)

    Time: 45 min. Accessibility: access ramps. Touch booklets for visually impaired visitors

    Fee/person: 4.50€ adult; 2.50€ child – Ticket booth: 3 points of sale (Tourism Office / Treasure / Museum J.-Fau) – Departure point: In front of the museum J.-Fau - Schedules: Contact the 05 65 72 85 00 (tour hours are subject to change)

    This guided tour is offered for individuals (in French) during the school holidays, then every day from April to mid- October. It is also offered for a group (English as well) with a prior reservation all year-round.

      THE CHURCH UPPER-GALLERY AND THE ROMANESQUE CAPITALS

      This guided tour offers the chance to reach the upper-gallery (Tribunes) of the church close to the capitals and the stained-glass windows by Pierre Soulages.

      Your guide will unveil the skills of the medieval “image-making” artists who carved the capitals’ baskets with interlaced patterns, story-telling subjects, religious or secular themes... This up-high gallery offers one of a kind perspective on the abbey-church architecture.

      English tours: conditional offer (please contact us for more details)

      Time: 45 min. - Accessibility: stairs - For safety reasons, access on your own to the upper-gallery is not allowed (information at the Service Patrimoine / Tourist Office)

      Fee/person: 4.50€ adult; 2.50€ child (12 - 16 yrs old) – Access possible from 12 years old. Ticket booth: 3 points of sale (Tourism Office / Treasure / Museum J.-Fau) – Departure point: In front of the museum J.-Fau - Schedules: Contact the 05 65 72 85 00 (tour hours are subject to change)

      This guided tour is offered for individuals (in French) during the school holidays, then every day from April to mid- October. It is also offered for a group (English as well) with a prior reservation all year-round.

        The stained-glass windows by Pierre Soulages

        From the upper-gallery of the abbey-church, your guide invites you to approach, at close hand, Pierre Soulages' creative process for his 104 contemporary stained-glass windows, inaugurated in 1994.

        You will discover the uniqueness of this glass that magnifies the Romanesque architecture.

        English tours: conditional offer (please contact us for more details)

        Time: 45 min. - Accessibility: stairs - For safety reasons, access on your own to the upper-gallery is not allowed (information at the Service Patrimoine / Tourist Office)

        Fee/person: 4.50€ adult; 2.50€ child (12 - 16 yrs old) – Access possible from 12 years old. Ticket booth: 3 points of sale (Tourism Office / Treasure / Museum J.-Fau) – Departure point: In front of the museum J.-Fau - Schedules: Contact the 05 65 72 85 00 (tour hours are subject to change)

        This guided tour is offered for individuals (in French) during the school holidays, then every day from April to mid- October. It is also offered for a group (English as well) with a prior reservation all year-round.

          The medieval village

          Come and wander with us through the medieval village of Conques in a colourful presentation, its history, civil architecture and human activities while strolling along the streets and lanes.

          Your guide will reveal the secrets of this village, once a fortified medieval town and nowadays classified among the most beautiful villages of France. This commented walk will make you travel through the centuries, from timber-framed houses to lauzes covered roofs, from bread ovens to chestnut driers called sécadou... Come and share with us the key events in the village history, hear the anecdotes that make the fame of this village.

          English tours: conditional offer (please contact us for more details)

          Time: 45 min. Accessibility: sloping streets and paved streets. Touch booklet for visually impaired visitors.

          Fee/person: 4.50€ adult; 2.50€ child – Ticket booth: 3 points of sale (Tourism Office / Treasure / Museum J.-Fau) – Departure point: In front of the museum J.-Fau - Schedules: Contact the 05 65 72 85 00 (tour hours are subject to change)

          This guided tour is offered for individuals (in French) during the school holidays, then every day from April to mid- October. It is also offered for a group (English as well) with a prior reservation all year-round.

            AN UNIQUE MULTIMEDIA EXPERIMENT 

            Transform your visit into a true historical immersion

            The digital IPads and audio (ear-phones provided), photo and video invite you to discover Conques’ history, the abbey-church and its tympanum, the stained-glasses and the Romanesque capitals, the cloister and its Treasure, at your own rhythm. Follow the footsteps of Lea, a contemporary visitor in Conques and be guided by the figures of the Past through the key points of the history of this site (Prosper Mérimée, the builders, the monks...).

            Supplement items are inserted (archives photos, maps, views from the sky, etc...) and sound effects are also part of the circuit.

            Circuit: All public (French, English, Spanish) and Youth (French and English – A game-treasure to solve!)

            Rental and departure point: Museum J-Fau (right of the Church square) – Circuit time lapse: About 1h to 1h30 (last rental possible 1 hour before closing time)

            Rental fees (Treasure entrance included): Adults 10 € - Teens (14-17 years old) 5 € - Children (7-13 years old) 1 €
            At  least one Adult IPad is required to rent a youth one – an ID paper is required on deposit as a warranty

              NIGHT TOUR in music in the CHURCH UPPER-GALLERY

              Wander by night in the upper-gallery of the church in music at close hand from the capitals and the stained-glass windows by Pierre Soulages. This tour is not guided. It is programmed for individuals or groups…  A memorable and exceptional visit.

              • Every evening from April 6, 2019 to septembre at 21:30 (except as indicated below or during major concerts)
              • Modified program during Easter week: No programming of the visit on April 18, 19, 20. Regular programming resumes on Sunday night April 21 at regular hours.
              • Fee/person: 6€ (access possible from 12 years old) – Accessibility: stairs - For safety reasons, access on your own to the upper-gallery is not allowed
              • Time: about 30 min. – Entrance and ticket booth: Northern inside staircase at 21:30 – Modes of payment: Cash or cheque (in €)

                night show - Lights and Polychromy on the Tympanum

                PROGRAM (HIGH SEASON) - STARTING ON APRIL UNTIL SEPTEMBER 2019

                • 21:00: Presentation of the tympanum by friar Jean-Daniel (in French) - 18:30 during concerts of Music Festival (July 17, 19, 21, 31 and August 3, 6, 9, 10)
                • 21:30: Night tour of the upper-gallery of the church in music (except during the concerts of the Music Festival - see dates just above) : Discovery of the Romanesque capitals, the glass windows by Pierre Soulages under the light and pipe-organ show (Fee: 6€, access for public older than 12 years old)
                • 22:15: Polychromy of the Tympanum - By night, the progressive revealing of the colours offer a revisited reading of the 12th century tympanum and its 124 sculpted figures. Composing the Last Judgment and depicting the celestial Court, the angels, the elected, the condemned and other devils come to life.

                GOING FURTHER!