Thursday 5/16/19 – I hopped the train again today and did a day trip to Avignon (ah-veen-yohn). Another beautiful city in the Provence region. Now I know why I planned to stay in this area the longest. But of course, first a little history!
For nearly 100 years, (1309-1403) Avignon was the capital of Christendom, home to seven popes. And for a difficult period after that, during the Great Schism when there were two competing popes, Avignon was the “other Rome”. During this time it grew from a quiet village to a thriving city. Today, with its large student population and fashionable shops, Avignon is an intriguing blend of medieval history, youthful energy, and suburban sophistication.
In the 1300’s, the entire headquarters of the Roman Catholic Church was moved to Avignon. The church purchased the city and gave it a complete makeover. It built the Palace of the Popes where all popes resided until 1403. Avignon’s population grew from 6,000 to 25,000 while today only 13,000 live within the walls. Eventually, Italians demanded a Roman Pope, so from 1378 on, there were twin popes, one in Rome and one in Avignon, causing a schism in the Catholic Church that wasn’t fully resolved until 1417.
The first pic is the gate into the city showing that it is a walled city. The next is the Palace of the Popes. The next few looking out over water are the beautiful views from the Pope’s garden. The unfinished bridge you see has some interesting history. Called St. Benezet Bridge, it was built between 1171 and 1185 and was very strategic as it was one of only three bridges crossing the mighty Rhône River in the Middle Ages, important to pilgrims, merchants, and armies. It was damaged several times by floods but always rebuilt. In the winter of 1668 most of it was knocked out for the last time by a disastrous icy flood and they decided not to rebuild it.
In one of the next few pictures, you’ll see a fort up on a hill across the river. That is Fort St. Andre, which back in the day was in the kingdom of France not considered in Vatican territory.
The remaining pics are just shots I took around town looking down cute little alleyways (sound familiar!) and cool buildings. The pic of the wooden door is from the church of St. Pierre and is made of walnut and was carved in 1551. Amazing!
The pic of the small little chapel with the gate in front is the Grey Penitents Chapel (Penitents Gris Chappelle). The upper facade shows two men dressed up in robes and pointy hoods to do their anonymous good deeds back in the 13th century. While it might look a little like the KKK, these guys weren’t about racism but rather symbolized how all are equal in God’s eyes. And in the last pic, I liked the cool wolf like gargoyles coming off of the church.
Well tonight is my last night in Arles and I had a great time in the Provence region and would highly recommend Arles as a base camp for the area. Tomorrow I am off to Carcassonne but my train is not until late in the day so I’ll probably explore around Arles during the day. Happy Thursday! Enjoy!
Jeff
The Wandering Italian 