A Guide to Avignon

Avignon has a long history and one of much conflict with Rome. During the Middle Ages there was a great split in the Papacy and the King of France based his own Pope at Avignon much to the outrage of the Church Leaders in Rome, and for some time there were two Popes trying to lead the Christian World. The town is full of architecture connected with this event.

The walls of the city are still present today encircling the city, and the gates and the towers have been restored to try and renew their former glory. The city’s main square the Place de l’Horloge is the main hub of the city and the axis point of the Old Town. The most notable feature in the city is the daunting and yet magnificent Palais des Papes that was the Palace of the Popes during the Great Western Schism and is a stone grey Palace with fortifications ready to withstand any assault.

One of the more beautiful attractions to see is the Pont d’Avignon or St Benezet, which is the bridge leading in and out of the town over the surrounding river and is set amongst a beautiful backdrop of rolling hills covered in forestry putting the town in a ideal picturesque setting.