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One of the major monuments of architectural and cultural heritage that line the route to Santiago de Compostela, Conques abbey-church prides itself on sheltering under its vaults, a unique treasure of Romanesque sculpture and artefacts. Among these are the tympanum of the Last Judgment and figurative capitals, all magnified by Pierre Soulages’ stained glass windows. The gilded or plated reliquaries of the Treasure, embellished with ancient enamels, cameos, intaglios and precious stones are exquisite examples of medieval craftsmanship. The precious treasure, assembled and preserved through the ages, nestles around the monastery within an environment of great beauty that is today recognized in the selective list of The most Beautiful Villages of France (Les plus beaux villages de France).


Conques (Concas in occitan) is a commune in the Aveyron department in southern France, in the Midi-Pyrénées region.
The village is located at the confluence of the Dourdou and Ouche rivers. It is built on a hillside and has classic narrow Medieval streets. As a result, large vehicles (such as buses) cannot enter the historic town centre but must park outside. Consequently, most day visitors enter on foot and, as at least one overnight visitor has observed, the majority of the tourists depart in the late afternoon, leaving the town much less crowded. The town was largely passed by in the nineteenth century, and was saved from oblivion by the efforts of a small number of dedicated people. As a result, the historic core of the town has very little construction dating from between 1800 and 1950, leaving the medieval structures remarkably intact. The roads have been paved, and modern-day utility lines are buried.
The St. Foy abbey-church was added to the UNESCO World Heritage Sites in 1998, as part of the World Heritage Sites of the Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France. Its Romanesque architecture, albeit somewhat updated in places, is displayed in periodic self-guided tour opportunities, especially of the upper level, some of which occur at night with live music and appropriately-adjusted light levels. A particularly interesting aspect of the church is the set of carvings of the "curieux" (the curious ones) who are peeking over the edges of the tympanum arch