Day 3-- Avignon & Nimes
Gare de Lyon; Palais de Papes; Basilique Saint-Pierre d'Avignon; Pont d'Avignon; Pont du Gard; Maison Carree; Jardins de la Fontaine
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Pont d'Avignon
A wooden bridge spanning the Rhône between Villeneuve-lès-Avignon and Avignon was built between 1177 and 1185.
This early bridge was destroyed forty years later during the Albigensian Crusade when Louis VIII of France laid siege to Avignon.
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.
AvignonFrancePont d'AvignonRomanesqueTravellandmarkancientarchitecturemedievaltourism
