Showing 1-7 of 7 results
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Chapelle des Pénitents Gris
Rue des Teinturiers follows the course of the River Sorgue through Avignon's old dyers' district - busy until the 19th century. Some water wheels still turn. Beneath plane trees stands the 16th-century Chapelle des Pénitents Gris.
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City Walls
Wrapping around the city, Avignon's ramparts were built between 1359 and 1370. They were restored during the 19th century, minus their original moats - though even in the 14th century this defence system was hardly state-of-the-art, lacking machicolations (openings in the parapets for niceties like pouring boiling oil on attackers or shooting arrows at them).Within the walls are a wealth of fine museums - the Avignon Passion booklet lists the whole gamut.
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Couvent des Cordeliers
Rue des Teinturiers follows the course of the River Sorgue through Avignon's old dyers' district, where you'll find the former Couvent des Cordeliers, Avignon's largest convent when it was founded in 1226. Inside lies the grave of Laura, the muse of Italian poet Petrarch.
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Palais des Papes
Flanked by the sprawling courtyard cour d'Honneur, the Palais des Papes is the largest Gothic palace in the world. Its cavernous stone halls and extensive grounds testify to the fortune amassed by the papacy during the 'Babylonian Captivity'. Papal banquets held here were of fitting proportions. A feast to celebrate Clement VI's coronation in 1342 included 118 oxen, 1033 spit-roasted sheep, 1195 geese, 7428 chickens, 50,000 sweet tarts, 39,980 eggs and 95,000 loaves of bread.
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Pont St-Bénézet
The fabled Pont St-Bénézet was completed in 1185, linking Avignon with the settlement across the Rhône that later became Villeneuve-lès-Avignon. The 900m-long wooden structure was repaired and rebuilt several times before all but four of its 22 spans were washed away in the mid-1600s. The bridge continues to capture kids' imaginations everywhere with its namesake nursery rhyme, 'Sur le Pont d'Avignon'.
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St Bénézet's Bridge
The fabled Pont St-Bénézet (St Bénézet's Bridge) was completed in 1185, a bridge linking Avignon with the settlement across the Rhône that later became Villeneuve-lès-Avignon. The 900m-long wooden structure was repaired and rebuilt several times before all but four of its 22 spans were washed away in the mid-1600s.
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Synagogue
Avignon's neoclassical synagogue was first built in 1221. A 13th-century oven used to bake unleavened bread for Passover can still be seen, but the rest of the present round, domed neoclassical structure dates from 1846; a fire destroyed the original edifice in 1845. Visitors must be modestly dressed and men's heads must be covered, as is the custom.
Showing 1-7 of 7 results
