Landscape, Bodies, and Images: Experiencing the Sacred Space of Conques
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| Year of publication | 2022 |
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| Description | Conques is one of the major pilgrimage sites of pre-modern Europe. Build in a deep valley, a Concha, it is the site of worship of Fides, a 4th-century martyr from Agen. The goal of this paper is to try to reconstruct the pilgrims’ perception of this holy place in its ideal state between the 11th and the early 12th century. A brief reflection on the 19th-century restoration of the site will be followed by an examination of the relationship between landscape and built environment. Further, the way in which Fides’ power was staged and enhanced by her setting will be analysed. Finally, on the basis of the results of a medical experiment performed on modern pilgrims’ bodies which involved measuring the changing levels of bodily stress during a prolonged pilgrimage, the question of the impact of bodily physiology on the perception of the sacred space will be addressed. |
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