Bassin du cloître, Conques (12)

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In the south of the abbey church, several remnants of the cloister remain, including six paired openings from the western gallery. It was used for a long time as a reserve of stones to build the village houses. At the center is the claustral basin made of green serpentinite stone. The large fountain, restored and raised, measures 2.72 meters in diameter and is missing its central basin. Under the rim, between the columns decorated with vegetal motifs, animals, or imaginary ones that surround the basin, sculpted atlantes were placed, heads framed by arms and hands that support them. The construction of the cloister by Abbot Bégon III at the turn of the 11th and 12th centuries led to a true flowering of capitals. A number disappeared after the ruin and destruction of the cloister around 1830.