Avignon ~ It's More Than Just A Bridge for Dancing! October 11, 2019
Avignon ~ It's More Than Just A Bridge for Dancing! October 11, 2019
I don't remember when I learned the song, Sur la pont d'Avignon, but I can still sing it through today:
Sur le Pont d'Avignon
L'on y danse, l'on y danse
Sur le Pont d'Avignon
L'on y danse tous en rond.
Roughly translated it means:
On the bridge of Avignon,
we are dancing, we are dancing.
On the bridge of Avignon
we are dancing all in a circle.
The Pont Saint-Bénézet, also known as the Pont d'Avignon, is a famous medieval bridge in Avignon. When Bénézet was a young shepherd in Avignon, he heard a voice telling him to build a bridge over the Rhone. He (with the guidance of an angel) lifted an enormous stone, convincing the locals of the divine will of the work. Beginning in 1234 the bridge was rebuilt with 22 stone arches. It was abandoned in the mid-17th century as the arches tended to collapse each time the Rhône flooded making it very expensive to maintain. Four arches and the gatehouse at the Avignon end of the bridge have survived.
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| Gatehouse |
The bridge was the inspiration for the song Sur le pont d'Avignon and is considered a landmark of the city. In 1995, the surviving arches of the bridge, together with the Palais des Papes and Cathédrale Notre-Dame des Doms were classified as a World Heritage Site.
Avignon is a city of a little more than 90,000 inhabitants in south-eastern France. It is located on the left bank of the Rhône river. About 12,000 people live in the ancient town center enclosed by its medieval ramparts.
Between 1309 and 1377, during the Avignon Papacy, seven successive popes resided in Avignon and in 1348 Pope Clement VI bought the town from Joanna I of Naples. Papal control persisted until 1791 when, during the French Revolution, it became part of France. The town is now the capital of the Vaucluse department and one of the few French cities to have preserved its ramparts.
The historic center, which includes the Palais des Papes, the cathedral, and the Pont d'Avignon, became a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995. Generally speaking, our walking tour this morning took us to these historic places.
Today was a day for sightseeing -- a walking tour of Avignon and the Popes' Palace filled our morning, and then we went on a second excursion to view a Roman Aquaduct in the afternoon.
After breakfast, we met our guide, Bruno (not her real name -- just the name I gave to her because she never told us her name, and she just looked like a "Bruno" to me), met our group for a very rigorous walk.
The entire town center is surrounded by ramparts, and that is where we began our walk. We crossed a busy street and then entered through the gates and underneath another busy street. We walked first to La Place de l'Horloge where we could see vestiges of Roman ruins. The photo below (not mine) shows some of what we saw.
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| By Samuel Lavoie - https://www.flickr.com/photos/samuellavoie/3687660604/, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=16702566 |
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| Murals seen on the way to La Place de l'Horloge |
This city square serves as the hub of Avignon and is a place with many bars, restaurants, and colorful street life.
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| Hotel de Ville Avignon |
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| Palais des Papes Popes' Palace |
The Palais construction began in AD 1252. Avignon became the residence of the Popes in 1309, when Pope Clement V, unwilling to face the violent chaos of Rome after his election in 1305, moved the Papal Curia to Avignon, a period known as the Avignon Papacy. Clement lived as a guest in the Dominican monastery at Avignon, and his successor Pope John XXII set up a magnificent establishment there, but the reconstruction of the old bishops' palace was begun in earnest by Pope Benedict XII (1334–42) and continued by his successors to 1364. The site, on a natural rocky outcrop at the northern edge of Avignon, overlooking the river Rhône, was that of the old episcopal palace of the bishops of Avignon. The Palais was built in two principal phases with two distinct segments, known as the Palais Vieux (Old Palace) and Palais Neuf (New Palace). By the time of its completion, it occupied an area of 118,403 square feet. The building was enormously expensive, consuming much of the papacy's income during its construction.
Under Popes Clement VI, Innocent VI, and Urban V, the building was expanded to form what is now known as the Palais Neuf. An architect, Jean de Louvres, was commissioned by Clement VI to build a new tower and adjoining buildings, including a 52 m long Grand Chapel to serve as the location for papal acts of worship. Two more towers were built under Innocent VI. Urban V completed the main courtyard (known as the Cour d'Honneur) with further buildings enclosing it. The interior of the building was sumptuously decorated with frescos, tapestries, paintings, sculptures, and wooden ceilings.
The popes departed Avignon in 1377, returning to Rome, but this prompted the Papal Schism during which time the antipopes Clement VII and Benedict XIII made Avignon their home until 1403. The latter was imprisoned in the Palais for five years after being besieged in 1398 when the army of Geoffrey Boucicaut occupied Avignon. The building remained in the hands of antipapal forces for some years – it was besieged from 1410 to 1411 – but was returned to the authority of papal legates in 1433.
Although the Palais remained under papal control for over 350 years afterward, it gradually deteriorated. During the French Revolution, the Palais was seized and sacked by revolutionary forces.
In 1906 the Palais became a national museum and has been under constant restoration ever since.
it became a national museum. It has been under virtually constant restoration ever since.
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| Cathedrale Notre-Dame des Doms (to the left of the Popes' Palace) |
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| Gate to the Pope's Palace |
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| Coat of Arms of Paul V |
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| Plaque beneath Paul V's Coat of Arms |
Photos from inside the Popes' Palace
This room had the original wooden timbers and the beginnings of a restoration of the wall paintings. The colors are remarkable.
The interior of the Popes' Palace was disappointing as it is basically an unfurnished shell of a building. We were whisked through at a very rapid pace and were not permitted to take photos of the two rooms where there were original paintings.
In keeping with a theme of this trip, which I am tempted to name "Cats of Provence," this beauty (left) was sunning himself on the warm cobblestones outside the Popes' Palace. Our guide claimed that he was owned by the owner of the hotel/restaurant across the alley.
By this point in the tour, my feet and legs were "barking," so Jeff and I made our way back to the ship rather than continue on to the town market.
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