The town of Avignon owes part of its identity and prestige to the various Popes who lived there and had magnificent buildings erected. Indeed, from 1309 to 1403, Avignon became the Christian capital as Rome was so politically insecure.

In 1305, Bertrand de Got was elected and took the name of Clement V. After four years of an itinerant life between Limousin and Aquitaine, the Pope and his court settled in the Dominican monastery of Avignon as the town belonged to the Count of Provence - one of the Pope's vassals - and because it was next to the Comtat Venaissin, a property of the Holy See since the 13th century.

John XXI, the former bishop of Avignon, succeeded Clement V in 1316 and turned the Episcopal palace (which is no longer in existence) into his main residence. His successor, Benoît XII, elected in 1334, started the whole reconstruction of the palace which became the Vieux Palais (old palace), a mixture between a citadel and a monastery.

Clement VI, Pope from 1342 to 1352, bought the town from Joanna I, Queen of Naples and had a second palace built: the Palais Neuf (new palace). From then on, the Popes were really at home in Avignon and stayed there until 1378. Still, the last Popes never forgot that their favoured residence was in Rome and tried everything to go back.


In fact, in 1378, the Roman people started demanding a Roman pope or, at least, an Italian one. So the cardinals elected an Italian pope, Urban VI, but because of his tactless attitude thirteen French cardinals left Rome a few months later and, with the support of the King of France, Charles V, they elected another Pope; Clement VII. This caused the Great Schism in the papacy; all the believers, depending on their monarch, found themselves divided into two allegiances: the first to Rome with Urban VI, the other to Avignon with Clement VII. Benoît XII was the last Pope of Avignon and was chased from the town in 1403 because he refused to submit to the Holy See of Rome. From then on, the history of Avignon and that of the Comtat Venaissin - which belonged to the Holy See until 1791- merged into one.

In the meantime, Avignon expanded and became the second town of France after Paris. This growth not only had consequences on the size of the town but also on its intellectual and cultural renown. The various Popes continued to play their role of patrons allowing the formation of an artistic court - in which Petrarch played - and a prestigious university.

Of this glorious past, Avignon has kept the buildings but also the spirit: since 1946, on Jean Vilard's initiative, the main courtyard of the Popes' palace welcomes the famous theatre festival.

If Avignon is the town of Popes, it is also the town with the bridge on which everybody dances. Every French child knows the famous nursery rhyme "Sur le pont d'Avignon".
The Provençal legend says that the bridge Saint-Bénezet was built in 1177 by Bénezet, a young shepherd from Vivarais (Ardèche, today) and opened to traffic in 1185. This shepherd said he had heard heavenly voices telling him to build a bridge over the river Rhône. Helped by angels, he started building the bridge alone but soon everybody had heard about the "miracle" and donations arrived by the hundreds allowing the work to be finished. Historians think that the foundations of the bridge date back to the Roman period and that the young man organised its reconstruction.
900 metres long, the Avignon bridge is the first you met on the Rhône as you come from the sea. Many pilgrims visited it and prayed on the shepherd's relics. The bridge often suffered from the assaults of the numerous swellings of the river. It was often reconstructed and finally abandoned during the 17th century. Today, only four arches and a chapel dedicated to Saint Nicholas, patron saint of bargemen, are left.



The tourist office website : access, discovering the town, Provence, accommodation and tourist circuits.

The town hall website : another institutional website with classic information: news, tourism, practical and economic aspects of the town.

The Avignon festival : the website for the famous annual meeting of all theatre lovers with the history of the festival, programs, useful information, a presentation of the festival and of the 27th summer gathering of the Chartreuse.

A gateway site about Avignon and its region : everything about the papal city (its history, people, popes, chronologies, museums, slide projections) and Camargue.