The Shaping of Medieval Conques: From French National Monument to World Heritage
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| Year of publication | 2022 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | One of the goals of the Conques project is to understand the processes going from the early rediscovery and restoration ideas to the post-WWII shaping of a European medieval heritage. The reasons underlying the aesthetic and intellectual choices of the various actors who committed themselves to safeguarding this gem of European heritage while radically transforming it are extremely complex. In the following few minutes, I will briefly explore the three main stages of the abbey’s, treasure, and village’s transformation during the 19th century and 20th centuries. The first, under Prosper Mérimée, of preservation and recognition of the national value of the site, the second, under Jean-Camille Formigé, of radical restoration. This second phase was in fact the site of a true reinvention also of the cult of a saint from the early Middle Ages, Sainte Foy d’Agen, in the context of a Catholic France in the years of First Vatican Council and the Third Republic. The last phase concerns the role and place of Conques and its treasure within the rebuilding of a shared identity in post-Second World War Europe. |
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