The Bridge Saint-Benezet usually called Bridge of Avignon was built from 1177 till 1185 on the Rhône.
He leaves the district of Avignon Centre in the direction of the district Barthelasse-Piot of the City of Avignon but does not allow to go there. Of the bridge itself, he does not stay that celebrate them 4 arcs of Vaucluse and the Tower Philippe Le Bel with of course the famous song "On the Bridge of Avignon".
In the Middle Ages, the bridge of Avignon or ST BENEZET becomes integrated on one of the most important routes of pilgrimage between Italy and Spain; he is going to become essential to the papal court which settles down in Avignon in the XIVth century. The Bridge was at this moment, the most direct place between the multiple residences that were built the Cardinals and the Popes' Palace situated inside the ramparts of Avignon.
In reality, the bridge marked a border. "It was at first the big toll which blocked the river on the North-south axis. From the moment he begins to collapse, he is not anymore repaired because in the middle of the XVIIth century, it is the time when the French factories look unfavorably on the competition of Avignon and prefer to drop the bridge to avoid the smuggling", explain N. Faucherre, professor of art history and archaeology of the Middle Ages at the university Aix-Marseille.
It is the strong currents of the river of the Rhône and the short cold period in the XVIIth century that will degrade the majority of the work.
A fascinating visit which tells the history of Avignon and the Rhône, Saint Bénezet's legend and that of the famous song. Major witness of the history of Avignon and the Rhône, the Bridge of Avignon (Saint Bénezet) was built from the XIIth century, several times damaged, it was reconstructed following the wars and the floods of the river and definitively abandoned in the XVIIth century.
Discover the scientific and human adventure that was its construction thanks to a digital space where the bridge appears in 3D, uniting 2 banks of Avignon with Villeneuve Avignon in 1550.